The Compass That Guides Us
by silverliningineachcloud
Summary: When five-year-old 0-8-4 Mary Sue Poots is kidnapped from her foster home, S.H.E.I.L.D decides to place her under the protection of two agents posing as new foster parents upon her recovery. Coulson and May happen to be those two agents, and quickly find their hands full and hearts surprisingly taken by five-year-old Skye. Lots of family adventure, fluff, and angst.
1. One-Sided Introductions

_**Hello! I am interested in writing this story, but first wanted to see if anyone thought the premise was any good/interested in reading! So I'm throwing this chapter out there :)**_

_**Basically, this story will include lots of little Skye adventures, fluff, and angst. And Parent Coulson and May :)**_

**_What do you all think?_**

* * *

**"Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter." -Brad Henry**

* * *

"Are we really doing this?"

Melinda May stood with her arms crossed, blocking Phil Coulson's path to the door of the Bus, which had been reluctantly parked.

"It's our mission," he reminded her, picking up his suitcase and side stepping her slender yet formidable form. "And it's short term."

"I've heard those words attached to too many high investment cases."

"Agreed. But we have our orders."

May picked up her suitcase, generally stoic face twisted in a slight grimace.

"We're trained agents, May! I am finding it hard to believe that you are phased by this mission of all things!" Phil pulled up the truck of the sleek silver car they had been given, loading the suitcases.

"Trust me, Phil. No amount of training can prepare you for children."

* * *

A small brown haired girl sat on a bench. Her large chocolate brown eyes scanned the room. There were a couple stuffed animals and a variety of other toys lying around, but she did not move to play with anything. Instead, she sat perfectly still on the bench, face void of emotion.

The door opened suddenly and the girl jumped, a quick flash of fear crossing her expression.

"Alright, Mary, we're ready to take you to your new home!" A young woman smiled, holding out a hand to the five year old.

Skye ignored the offered hand and carefully got off the bench.

"Did you not like your toys?" the woman looked puzzled, noting everything was exactly where it had been an hour ago.

The girl did not respond.

"Alright sweetie, please follow me. We've found you a new home."

* * *

"So the girl was discovered by the Centipede project, we have no idea how, and was kidnapped from her last foster home and kept captive for over a week before being recovered by a SHEILD team." May flipped the page of the report.

"Poor girl," Phil murmured. "Looks like she was subject to various types of testing but they were able to retrieve her before anything permanent could be done to her."

"And our job is protect her and keep her under the radar for awhile." May finished.

"Do we know what's special about her? All it says is she's an 0-8-4."

The doorbell rang.

"Well, I guess we'll find out," May said dryly.

They walked to the door, opening it to find a young woman holding a pink suitcase. Beside her stood a dark brown haired little girl.

"Hello, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Parker!" the woman said cheerfully. "Mary, these are your new foster parents!"

"Hello Mary," Phil smiled gently. "You can call me Phil, and this is May. We're so excited to have you come stay with us!"

The little girl was silent, chocolate brown eyes staring.

"Why don't you show her around really quick, Phil," the woman suggested, smile tightening.

Coulson nodded, and the girl followed him out of the room.

"Agent Graham," May acknowledged the woman once the girl was out of earshot.

"Agent May, good to see you." Agent Graham sighed. "The girl has not said a word since my team rescued her from Centipede. We do not really even know what happened there."

"Great." May looked even less pleased.

"Fury wants to know what happened. He ideally would like to perform a memory wipe, but apparently we do not perform them on children, something about children's brains being in periods of crucial growth… Anyways. We are trying to keep things as normal as possible for Mary and hope that she can still be integrated back into society again. Keep up your covers at all times with her. And if she brings up what happened, tell her it was a fevered dream from when she got really sick and had to go to the hospital."

"And if she doesn't believe us?"  
"She's five. She'll believe it." Agent Graham checked her watch. "Shoot, my team needs me back for a debrief. Good luck."

May watched the door close, pink suitcase in her hand, with a dreadful feeling they were getting in way over their heads.

* * *

_**Well? What do you think?**_

_**Leave a review and let me know if you think I should continue! :)**_


	2. Stay

_**Aw guys, I'm flattered by the response!**_

_**The story WILL GO ON!**_

_** Here's a Christmas present from me to you! **__**  
**_

_**I promise things will get a little smoother, it took a bit for me to get settled into the story. **_

**_Don't you all think Phil would lose his heart to a five year old Skye in like 3 minutes? Their relationship starts earlier, but don't worry, May will come around :) _**

**_Also is there like a standard way to refer to Coulson? I've been kinda alternating between Phil and Coulson... Skye will call him Phil to start with._**

**_Also IMPORTANT: If you have a scene idea for this little strange family and want me to write it, leave a review explaining it, and I'll think about including it! Think family fun/angst/situations_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Agents of SHEILD_**

* * *

"So do you like your room?" Coulson asked the girl.

She blinked and looked around at the pink room. On one wall were pink flowery letters spelling out _MARY_.

Phil watched in confusion as the girl dragged a chair across the room, got up on it, and took down the letters.

"You don't want your name on the wall?" he asked confusedly.

"My name is Skye."

Coulson almost didn't hear the words, they were uttered so softly and unexpectedly.

The girl's voice was soft and almost melodic.

"Your name is Skye?" he repeated, just to make sure he had heard right. Coulson was pretty sure the file had said "Mary Sue Poots" on it.

Skye nodded.

"Are you sure?" Coulson wasn't really sure how to handle this.

Skye nodded again.

"I don't think that's actually your name."

Skye's face darkened and the tiny little girl began walking out of the room.

_Crap. May was right. There really isn't training on children. Five minutes in and the little girl was already changing her name. What if she did something even worse? Like cry?!_

_What do you do when a five year old tells you she has a different name than her actual name?_

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry Skye. If that's really what you want us to call you…"

Skye looked slightly pleased, but remained mostly stoic.

Coulson quickly excused himself from the room and fled downstairs.

* * *

"She doesn't talk," Coulson hissed to May. "The only time she's spoken up was to change her name!"

"What did she change it to?" May asked evenly.

"Skye," Coulson shook his head in frustration.

"Interesting." May went to the cupboard and took out a glass, filled it with water, and took a drink.

"Alright, let's take this one step at a time," Coulson took a deep breath. "Okay. Dinner. What are we having for dinner? And who's going to cook?"

"Why are you looking at me?" May gave him a withering stare.

"I'll cook then," Coulson said quickly. "Mac n cheese will work. All kids love it."

He quickly check the kitchen cupboards, rapidly discovering there really wasn't much in the way of food.  
He did find a hidden gun though.

"Did you hide this?" he held it up.

May took a long drink of water from her glass.

"Yes."  
"Don't you think this is a little risky? What if she found it?"  
"She's five. There's no what she can reach up there."  
May had a point and so Phil carefully put the gun back.

Just as he put it down, Skye walked in, brown eyes wide and examining every inch of space.

"Alright Skye. Looks like we're going to have to go shopping for dinner," Coulson told her cheerfully. "Does that sound ok?"

The five year old was silent.

May and Coulson exchanged a look. This was going to be a long couple weeks.

* * *

The silence continued for exactly two hours and twelve minutes, which was when May put a white ceramic plate with three slices of apple lined up in front of Skye.

The girl had eaten a plate and a half of mac n cheese and drunken two glasses of milk. She seem to be happy, rolling her plastic cup between her tiny hands.

And then May put down the plate of apple slices.

The reaction was immediate.

Skye's entire body tensed up. "No, no no!" she shook her head, brown hair dancing around her face.

"Skye?" Phil tried to touch her shoulder but she jerked at his touch. And began crying. "I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it," she sobbed, curling up in her chair.

During most of this, May had been staring in slightly shocked silence, but she suddenly leapt forward and took the plate of apples away, dumping them in the trash.

"Skye, Skye, sweetie, you don't have to have them okay? We're not going to make you have them. See, May took them away. Skye, please look up, it's okay," Phil was frantically trying to console the tiny little girl curled up on the chair.

Skye's sobs finally slowed to hiccups and she eventually sat back up, eyes puffy and face tear streaked.

"There you go, everything's okay." Coulson smiled. He looked up to see May lurking in the doorway, troubled expression on her normally stoic face.

"Can… can I have more mac n cheese?" Skye hiccupped.

"Of course."

Phil watched as Skye began eating again, her body trembling slightly.

"Can you tell me what happened? What was wrong?"

Skye just shook her head and kept eating.

* * *

"Did she talk to you?" Coulson asked May, letting his head fall into his hands.

Through unspoken arrangement, May had helped Skye put on her pjs, brush her teeth, and get into bed.

The two agents regrouped at the couch, both exhausted.

"No." May crossed her arms but leaned back against the plush fabric.

"Any idea what happened at dinner?"

"I think it was the apples," May stated.

"The apples?" Coulson raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I don't know. Do you have any better theories?" May said testily.

"I wish I did," Coulson sighed. "I have no idea what we're doing."

May's dark eyes were unreadable.

"Being parents," she said.

At that moment a scream shattered the air.

"I've got you covered!" May yelled, pulling out her gun out of seemingly nowhere as Coulson sprinted up the stairs.

"Skye!" he shouted, bursting into the pink room.

Skye was curled up in a tiny ball in her bed, under the pink covers, sobbing and shaking.

"Clear." May quickly checked the room, gun ready.

"I think she's having a nightmare…" Phil holstered his own gun.

He and May hesitated, looking at the crying girl in the bed.

"I'll just double check the grounds."

May disappeared.

"Thanks May," Coulson muttered under his breath before turning to the girl. "Skye?" Phil gently shook the small girl, surprised at how tiny her little form was.

Slowly the brown eyes blinked open, full of confusion.

Skye sat up and looked around, breathing slowing to a more normal rate.

For about the millionth time that day, Coulson thought briefly about how he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Quickly he tried to think back, all those years ago, to what his parents would do when he had nightmares.

Well. He would give this a try and hope it didn't make things worse.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Coulson asked, carefully sitting on the bed.

Slowly Skye nodded.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head.

"Are you sure? It might help."

Another shake of the head.

"Alright then. Do you think you can go back to sleep?"

"Okay," Skye whispered. She laid back down, snuggling under the curtains. Coulson got up to leave.

"Wait!"

He turned to see Skye sitting back up.

"What's wrong?" he quickly walked back.

"Stay?" Skye's brown eyes were huge in her wan face.

Surprised by the request, Coulson quickly pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down.

"Of course."

He felt strangely touched when she reached for his hand and held it tightly until she fell asleep.

* * *

_**What do you think?**_

_**Please review! :)**_

_**All I want for Christmas is reviewssssssss**_


	3. An Outing to Remember

_**Anddddd here's another chapter for you all!**_

_**Also happy holidays! :)**_

_**Huge thanks to those who reviewed! You all are the best!**_

_**Smileychameleon: I will definitely put in your suggestion! I wanted to lay some groundwork in this chapter, but it will come!  
Just a warning, I like Frozen. It will play a role. If you hate it, it's not a big deal, you can still enjoy this :)**_

**_Let me know what you think!_**

**_or just review cause it's my favorite thing ever to get reviews._**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**_

* * *

Skye woke up, pink covers twisted around herself, soft light filtering through the white curtains over the window.

Slowly she sat up. She was in the new house still.

She remembered waking up two or three times in the night, making the man and silent lady come running.

She remembered the nice man, Phil, staying by her bed each time, and the silent lady, May, peering in through the doorway, looking concerned.

She remembered the dreams, about that horrible place.

Skye shuddered and got out of bed.

She was scared. She didn't really know what was going on. All she knew was she was now with the nice man and silent lady and they fed her mac and cheese and didn't yell or poke her with needles or do other scary things.

At least, not yet.

Skye paused and examined the stuffed animals on the toy chest by her bed. Hesitantly she reached out to touch one. It was soft. She smiled slightly.

And then she saw the bear. It had a goofy grin but she didn't even see that. All she saw was it was wearing a white long coat.

Images flashed through her mind. A woman with straight brown hair and glasses in a white coat raised a needle. A bright light was shining in her eyes, something was around her wrists, keeping her from moving. She fought and fought, crying, screaming, but nobody came to help her…

"It's okay. You're okay," someone was gently rubbing her back.

Skye suddenly realized she was still in the pink room. The silent Asian lady was crouched beside her, murmuring soft words.

Skye's breath hitched in her chest and she wiped the tears from her face.

When she looked back up, the lady was gone. Soon Phil came running into the room, saying something about how May had told him she was crying and suddenly Skye started crying again because she was scared and confused and she let Phil hug her and when he eventually tried to move, she clung to him as if he was the only thing holding her down on earth.

* * *

"Do five year olds take naps?" Coulson watched Skye's head droop. The girl was currently curled up on the couch, watching a TV show about butterflies and her head kept drooping and eyes fluttering.

Breakfast had been a silent affair. When Skye had finally let go of him, she went back to her usual distant self.

"She's probably tired from all those nightmares."

Coulson grunted in agreement, unable to tear his eyes from the tiny girl on the couch.

What had those bastards done to her?

She had woken up screaming three times during the night, and then there was the morning meltdown May had discovered…

He couldn't shake the memory of her skinny yet strong arms clinging to him as though he was a lifeline.

"I found this on the floor of the bedroom." May glanced at Skye and seeing that she was distracted by the TV, held up a little stuffed animal bear. The bear was wearing a lab coat, obviously supposed to be some cute scientist bear.

Cute unless you were a little girl just rescued from a lab.

"That must have triggered the meltdown this morning," Coulson hissed. "Who the hell thought this would be a good idea?!"

"Some idiot who doesn't have a brain," May said and calmly ripped the bear's head off, stuffed him in the trash, and stalked off.

Coulson watched her go, then turned back to watching Skye.

If only he could get her to talk…

Suddenly he had a great idea.

* * *

"This is a horrible idea," May deadpanned.

They were standing in front of the largest toy store either of the agents had ever seen.

Kids and parents were everywhere. Vibrant colors blasted from all sides and over the top sing songy music filled the air.

There were aisles full of just pink toys. There were balls and wheels and scooters and bikes and stuffed animals and arts and crafts and basically everything imaginable.

May took a cautious step forward and stepped on a toy bird which began screeching and flapping its mechanical wings.

May kicked the toy bird's head off before anyone had a chance to react.

"Skye, give me your hand," Phil ordered.

Skye took his hand, brown eyes wide as she stared at the aisles and aisles of toys.

"Alright. We can do this." Coulson took a deep breath. He was fairly sure May was going to kill him later for dragging her into this hell shop.

"What do you want to look at first, Skye?"

Skye clung to his hand, looking around. Suddenly she smiled and pointed.

"Elsa!"

And all of a sudden, her hand slipped out from his and she ran around the corner, and a pack of children was between him and May and Skye.

"Skye!" May yelled, pushing through the group of seven year olds clutching matching dolls. "Who the hell is Elsa?!"

"No idea! Where'd she go?!" Coulson was sprinting down the aisle he thought Skye had gone down.

He suddenly saw her brown hair by the tea sets and ran to her.

"Skye, you can't…"

The girl turned around and it wasn't Skye.

Phil jerked back and backed away from the child and her mom who was sending him suspicious looks.

"Okay, we lost her." He regrouped with May who was searching the stuffed animal area.

"Shit." May dropped a smiling starfish and reached for her hidden gun.

"May!" Coulson stared at her. "You can't pull out your gun in a Toys R Us!"

A mom next to the play ponies was looking at them concernedly, reaching for her cell phone.

"I mean… I don't think it's appropriate to get Tommy a _toy gun_," Coulson said loudly.

The lady put her cell phone back in her purse.

"We should split up," May hissed. "If someone finds her and Centipede…"

She didn't have to say more, they were both running different ways.

_Oh god. This couldn't be happening. Two days into a mission and they had already lost their charge._

Coulson promptly tripped over a jump rope, skidded into a giant rubber ball, and fell on his back.

Many cheerful snowmen stared down at him, while somewhere something was singing about letting go and ice and snow or something. Coulson sat up and turned to find Skye standing beside him, hugging a blonde doll with a shiny blue dress.

"Look, I found Elsa!" she smiled, holding it up for him to see.

Coulson groaned and grabbed a smiling snowman and buried his face in it.

* * *

"Are you sure you just wanted Elsa?"

It was after dinner, which after their eventful evening was pizza ordered from a local shop.

Skye nodded, cradling her doll.

"Are you sure? We could go back and get one of those other ones, the uh.. uh.. snowman with the funny nose…"

"Olaf," Skye inserted.

"Or the redhead…"  
"Anna." Skye smoothed her doll's hair.

"Or even that reindeer and that weird guy…"  
"Sven and Kristoff."

"Yeah, all those guys. We could totally go back and get them for you."

He could see that Skye had no interest, and he had said it really to get to May, but judging by the way she was glaring at him as though she would murder him with the piece of pizza she was holding, he was thinking it was maybe too soon.

Phil gave her an apologetic half smile but she only glared and stalked away.

He turned back to Skye.

"Alright, why Elsa? Why not Annie…

"Anna."

"Or Kristopher…"  
"Kristoff."

"Whatever. Why not one of them?" Coulson was secretly enjoying how much Skye was talking. As in she had said a couple more than five words in the last hour. All had been about this mysterious movie, Frozen.

Judging from the way she responded to physical objects, such as the apples or bear, he had wondered if he could get her to open up that way as well.

So far, it was working. It was even worth the trip to the toy store.

Skye was silent for a moment, holding her Elsa doll in front of herself making her sway back and forth slightly.

"Elsa's different from everyone else. And she… she gets locked up because of that. They put these things on her hands. Those stop you from getting away." Skye set down the doll and clasped her own wrist with her other hand in demonstration. "They tell her she's a monster. But she's just scared."

Skye, done with her explanation, picked up Elsa again and hugged her tight.

* * *

"They put cuffs on her at some point."

"What?"

It was almost 1 am and when May walked into the living room after disappearing for a perimeter check, Coulson was sitting on the couch, the animated scene of a slender blonde girl pulling against chains in a dungeon paused on the screen of the TV.

"What is this?" May raised her eyebrows.

"Frozen. And that's Elsa." Coulson gestured to the still image on the screen with the remote.

"Coulson, what the hell are you doing?"

"Finding out what happened to Skye in that lab. I got her to talk to me today. She told me this story about Elsa and how they put chains on her and said she was different and a monster, but she was just scared…"  
"You're making assumptions from a conversation about a child's toy."

"I know she was talking about herself." Coulson stared at the screen, eyes glued to the look of anguish on Elsa's face.

"Phil," May's gaze became concerned. "Maybe you should get some rest."

"I think," Coulson ignored May. "I think they used restraints at some point. I know they found Skye in a small empty room. My guess is they took her from the room to run tests and then brought her back there when they were done. And either they told her or she heard them talking to each other about how she's different or maybe even a monster…"

"We need to find out what kind of tests, Phil. We need to know what they were up to. This doesn't matter…"

"It does if it's affecting Skye," Phil's voice was suddenly intense.

May's eyes narrowed.

"Her mental health is not our mission."

"It might not be our mission, but it is our concern as human beings." Coulson stood up, holding May's gaze seriously.

"We can't get attached," May said roughly.

"I will not become apathetic to a child's suffering," Coulson said quietly and left the room.

* * *

_**What do you think? **_

_**Leave a review and you shall be loved by this author! :)**_


	4. Voices From The Heart

_**Next chapter for you all!**_

_**Have an awesome New Years everyone! Here's a super long chapter for the last chapter of 2014!**_

_**Also, Smileychameleon, I wrote out your scene :) It will be coming!**_

_**Thank you to all my readers and reviewers! I'd love to hear any of your thoughts on the story!**_

_**I do not own Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. That would be Marvel.**_

* * *

"May?"

May jerked away from the punching bag she had set up in the basement.

It was three days after the whole toy store fiasco and Skye was still mostly silent and stoic. They could count the number of times she had smiled on one hand. But She was definitely improving. She seemed more at ease, and had started talking without being spoken to first.

They were starting to see a glimmer of the child Skye might have been.

And now she was standing on the stairs, watching May beat the crap out of a bunching bag.

Skye however looked very unconcerned at what May was doing.

"What's the matter?" May rubbed her knuckles.

"Elsa is sad." Skye held up the doll.

Although she had initially thought Phil was crazy, May had soon realized that he was right; Skye spoke of the emotions she couldn't seem to express through the doll.

"Why is Elsa sad?" May carefully approached the girl.

She was horrible with kids. Where was Phil?

"Because, Phil left to get more milk. But Elsa isn't sad here with you." Skye said seriously.

Shit. Coulson was gone which meant she had to face the hardest task she had encountered alone; childcare.

"Here, you can hold her!" She held up the doll and May took it gingerly. The last toy she had held she had torn the head off of.

Holding the precious doll, May watched Skye wander around the little makeshift gym.

"Pete had one of those," she pointed at the elliptical.

"Who's Pete?" May cautiously trailed behind Skye.

"One of my foster dads." Sky turned to examining the dumbbells, trying to pick one up and quickly giving up.

And suddenly Skye saw the treadmill.

The blood drained from her face and her tiny frame began shaking.

May immediately saw the telltale signs of the beginning of a meltdown.

"Phil!" she yelled. He could always calm the girl down.

Wait. Shit. He had run to the store.

Shit.

She was going to have to do this on her own.

Skye's body was beginning to shut down, her lively chocolate eyes glazing over. May shoved the doll into her arms, picked up the girl and carried her upstairs, away from the treadmill.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're alright." She rubbed the little back gently in circles. Finally the shaking and sobbing subsided and May found that Skye was clinging to her, little arms wrapped around her neck.

Slowly, May relaxed. She wrapped her arms around Skye and held her, rocking the little girl slightly back and forth.

* * *

"They made her run a treadmill." May reported to Coulson after Skye had been put to bed.

"I'll make a note of it."

May watched Coulson's jaw clenched as he turned to his computer and began typing. They were compiling a growing list of the tests they were able to figure out had been performed.

Some were told through Elsa. Others were discovered through panic attacks triggered by objects used, such as the treadmill. It was becoming more and more clear that Centipede had been testing physical aspects, such as endurance and strength, of Skye.

"I'm angry too," May said quietly.

Coulson turned sharply to look at her.

"Thank god they didn't physically hurt her more, other than the blood drawing."

Both agents were silent for a moment.

"Do you think they wanted to test a new device on her?"

"Probably. Their last devices caused the human subjects to explode. Her status as an 0-8-4 would mean there was a chance it would work on her."

Silence again.

"We just need to figure out what kind of device it was and then I think we'll be good on information gathering and we can focus on taking care of Skye." Coulson closed the laptop.

Again, silence.

"She must have been so scared, all these things happening, people forcing her to do things she didn't want to, and she didn't understand what was happening…" Coulson stared at the wall in front of him. "For God's sake, she's only five."

"Stop." May's voice was low.

"What?" Coulson turned to look at her.

"Just stop." May turned and stalked out of the room. She went to the basement and started punching the bunching bag but ended stopping and staring at the treadmill, imagining a scene in a white room with Skye crying and just wanting to stop and…

Before she knew what was happening, May had grabbed two dumbbells and brought them down onto the treadmill. She crushed every piece of the treadmill with an anger she did not understand.

* * *

"I think it's time we started some semblance of school," Coulson announced at breakfast. Skye looked up from her oatmeal, chocolate eyes brightening.

"Can Elsa come to school too?" she asked, holding up the doll.

"Of course," Coulson smiled, the edges of his eyes crinkling. "What do you think May? Should we tackle some homeschooling?"

"Absolutely," May nodded. "Skye will start self defense lessons with me this morning."

"What does that mean?" Skye asked innocently.

"Skye, can you go up to your room and get your raincoat?" Phil practically pushed Skye out of the room before turning on May.

"_May, she's five!_" he hissed.

"The earlier, the better," May said calmly, picking up her plate.

"May, we have to discuss this!" Phil banged his hand against the table. "God dammit, May, I don't want her learning how to fight! I want her to play and enjoy what shred of childhood she hasn't had taken from her!"

"Listen, Phil. Centipede is still out there. There are millions of organizations that would _kill_ to get their hands on Skye. For all we know, she isn't even human. They don't care that she's five! Someone out there leaked her identity and location, it could happen again. If she's ever taken again, this is the least we can do."

"You think there's a mole?" Coulson looked steadily at May.

Her dark eyes were full of an unreadable emotion.

"All I'm saying is Centipede somehow found Skye and we haven't found out how yet. Until we can guarantee security on Skye's location and identity, she isn't safe."

"Phil, I got my coat!" Skye ran into the room. "Where are we going?"  
Coulson and May stared at each other for a moment.

"We need to get you supplies for your self defense lessons. And some books for lessons. And what if we drop by the toy store and pick up an Anna doll as a special treat? Cause we still want you to keep playing and having fun even though we'll be having some school and lessons. How does that sound?"

"Good!" Skye smiled.

Phil caught May's gaze and she nodded.

* * *

"Alright, are you ready?" May turned to look at Skye.

She was dressed in a black shirt that said I MAY LOOK CUTE BUT I'M A NINJA and black tights.

May supposed it was Coulson's idea of a joke and she vowed to not let Coulson shop for Skye's clothes alone ever again.

Not that the little girl would be needing another set anytime soon. And by the time she did, their mission would be over and…

May violently pushed away that thought, not sure why it seemed to cause her so much unease.

All missions came to an end. They were only a stepping-stone in Skye's life; taking care of her while the threat against her was eliminated.

And part of taking care of Skye meant starting to teach her how to take care of herself.

May forced herself to focus and looked again at Skye.

Her brown hair was in a little ponytail that was horribly messy and could only have been done by Coulson.

May was suddenly aware of how _tiny_ Skye was.

She could literally lift the girl up with one hand. She was fragile in so many ways.

Fragile, but surprisingly strong. Stronger than any five year old should have to be.

This was going to have to be a very special lesson.

"Alright, first we're going to start with something called threat assessment…"

* * *

"Did she understand a word you said?" Coulson grinned as May and Skye walked into the kitchen.

May just glared at Phi, but he could tell she wasn't really upset.

"Phil, I learned threat assessment!" Skye chirped.

"Oh good," Phil's blue eyes sparkled.

Skye started to climb onto her chair but slipped. As if in slow motion, Coulson watched Skye fall backward, head on collision course with the corner of the table…

With lightening reflexes, May grabbed Skye and set her on the chair.

"Are you ok?" May checked Skye for injuries with surprising tenderness.

Skye nodded.

"Here, I will get you some water. It is important to stay hydrated."

Skye watched May walk away then turned to Phil.

"What's hydrated mean?"

"It means you drink lots of water," Coulson informed her.

"Oh."

Skye's face darkened.

"Skye, are you okay?" Coulson quickly caught the change in mood and sensed a coming panic attack.

Skye just nodded, not looking at Coulson, instead leaving the table and finding her Elsa doll.

"Want to draw with me?" Phil stood up and grabbed a stack of paper and box of crayons.

Skye shook her head and turned away.

"I think Elsa wants to draw with me." Phil put the paper down on the coffee table. "I'm going to draw her a snowflake."

Skye turned and watched Phil attempt to draw a snowflake.

"You're a bad drawer," she observed.

"Thanks," Phil was amused by her comment.

"But, Elsa likes it," Skye relented, taking the drawing.

"Hmm. What should I draw now?"

"Draw May," Skye suggested.

Coulson blanched at the idea.

"That would be a dangerous game to play for me, especially with my drawing skills. How about you draw her?"

Soon Skye was filling pages with bright crayon lines, utterly focused.

"What's happening in this one?" Phil picked up a drawing of a brown haired girl. The girl looked like she was crying but she also could have been eating blueberries. Coulson wasn't quite sure. "Or this one?"

He spied a drawing that made his blood run cold.

It was a drawing of a brown haired girl lying on a table, grey bands on her wrists and legs. In the margin of the paper, there was a drawing of a needle.

He slowly picked it up.

Skye looked at him with large eyes, full of a pain he couldn't bear to see. Her eyes told him all he needed to know.

The moment had finally come.

Skye was telling him what had happened. What she couldn't manage to say in words, she was drawing for him to see.

He was supposed to tell her it was all just a dream, just like he told her when she really did wake up from nightmares. But this time, she was awake and aware.

"Skye…"  
He couldn't say the lie. He couldn't tell her all her pain wasn't real, that it was just the result of a fever.

He doubted Skye would believe him anyways. She was smart, and definitely smart enough to know what actually happened and what didn't.

Fury was sure she could be convinced otherwise.

He was sure she could not.

They had to face what happened in order for Skye to heal from it.

So he would not even try the lie. He would not invalidate her pain or break her trust.

Instead he carefully smoothed Skye's soft hair, tucking a strand behind her ear.

"You are safe now, I promise."

* * *

"You didn't tell her the lie we were ordered to tell her."

May joined Coulson on the couch. Skye had just gone to bed and based on the patterns of the past week, they had at least half an hour before the first nightmare.

"No. I didn't."

The light was dim and Phil could not quite see May's face.

"Then I will not either."

Before he could say more, May was gone.

* * *

**_Thoughts? Ideas? Complaints?_**

**_Leave a review and let me know :)_**


	5. Skye

_**Hey all! Happy New Year! WHooooo 2015! Let's make it spectacular! :)**_

_**Also, I have decided to write a oneshot for someone! I think I will randomly select one of the followers of this story once I reach 100 followers! It will be a oneshot of the winner's choice, within SHEILD of course!**_

**_I do not own Agents of SHEILD _**

* * *

"Frozen?"

Skye held up the DVD up, puppy dog eyes huge and pleading.

Coulson was sure he was going to go crazy if he heard "Do You Want to Build A Snowman" one more time.

May had disappeared after the first five minutes of the movie the first time they watched it. Ever since, she had been suddenly very busy whenever Skye pulled out the movie. Which was at least three times a day.

Someday Coulson was going to force her to watch the entire animated movie. He would probably be murdered in his sleep soon after, but it would be worth it.

"How about we…" Coulson jumped to distract Skye from the movie when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out, suddenly aware of the way Skye's eyes lit up with interest.

"Do you want to see it?" He offered it to her on a whim, quickly closing everything that was confidential first.

Skye took the phone, turned it over in her hands several times, examining the screen with fascination.

Then her small fingers started to dance across the screen.

Ten minutes later, there were seven Frozen games, three puzzle games, and a zombie apocalypse game installed on his phone, as well as an app that told you where the nearest McDonalds was. Skye had somehow found the portal to the confidential files he had loaded when Coulson finally took the phone back.

Skye's eyes were glowing with happiness and she suddenly turned to Phil's laptop, gazing at it with great interest.

"On second thought, let's watch Frozen." Coulson pulled her onto his lap, and subtly hid all his technology while she was captured by the movie.

That evening they found Skye on May's laptop.

The laptop had been locked.

"How the hell did she do that?" May stared at the five year old doing a floor puzzle after they had taken the laptop back and hidden it.

"I have no idea." They both looked back at the little girl.

"I guess she really is a child of her generation," Coulson said finally.  
"I guess so."

* * *

The next day when Phil got up, his fuzzy slippers were not beside his bed.

"What the…" He got out of bed and began crawling around on the ground looking for them.

He _loved_ those fuzzy slippers and always kept them beside his bed when he went to sleep. Where could they have gone?

Suddenly he saw a pair of chocolate brown eyes watching him crawl around on the ground in his pajamas.

A tiny hand waved a slipper at him.  
"Skye?"

There was a look in Skye's face that Coulson could not immediately identify.

And then he realized what it was; mischief.

A smile spread across his face.

Skye had _pranked_ him!

He had never been so happy to be pranked in his entire life.

Skye held up the other slipper, which was in her other hand, mischievous look still on her face, now accompanied by a full out smile.

"Skye, did you take my slippers?"

Skye hid the slippers behind her back and shook her head, still beaming.

"Hmm, I have a feeling they might be…" Coulson took a careful step towards the tiny girl. "….behind your back!" Phil pounced, wrapping Skye in a bear hug.

May appeared just in time to take in the scene.

A sound neither agent had heard tumbled from Skye's lips.

It was the sound of a beautiful melodic laugh.

* * *

"Skye, where are you?" May walked into the kitchen and froze.

Skye was perched on the kitchen counter.

In her small hands was a gun.

"Skye, no!" May leapt forward, yanking the gun from Skye's grasp. "_Do not touch this!_" she shouted, adrenaline coursing through her veins. "You _do not play with this!_"

At this point, Skye was sobbing, tears streaming down her face. May tucked the gun away, surprised to find that she herself was shaking slightly.

_Nothing_ shook her.

But finding Skye holding the weapon, seeing the large black ugly weapon in those tiny innocent hands…suddenly seeing images of all the people she had witnessed with bullet holes in them, dead… imagining Skye in their place… No she wouldn't even go there. She couldn't

"Guns are _dangerous_," May said harshly. "Do you understand?!"

Skye nodded vigorously, sobbing.

May took a step forward to lift Skye down from the counter.

She froze when Skye whimpered and winced at her movement, little hands covering her face protectively.

She had scared Skye.

Skye thought she was going to hurt her.

"Skye, I'm not going to hurt you," May whispered, horrified as she suddenly realized what she had just done.

She had just yelled at Skye. She had lost it, so scared by walking into the kitchen and seeing Skye with that gun… Yet her fear had come out as anger and attacked the five year old who sat sobbing in front of her.

She had to fix this.

"Skye, please look at me," May's voice was impossibly tender. Skye slowly met May's gaze, tears still streaming from her face.

Something in May's heart broke. The little girl had cried far too much in her short little life. The world had been unbelievably cruel to her. And now May had caused the tears, inflicted pain, albeit unintentionally, on a little girl who had already endured far too much.

"I'm sorry I yelled," May slowly reached out and touched Skye's hair, relieved when the girl didn't pull away. "I got scared because guns are very dangerous and I didn't want you to get hurt. I'm sorry I lost my temper and scared you like that. I would never hurt you." She gently stroked Skye's soft hair. "I'm sorry."

Skye relaxed, the tears slowing and then stopping.

"I..I'm sorry I touched the gun," Skye hiccupped. "I won't ever again, I promise."

"Alright," May said. Hesitantly she reached forward to pick up Skye from the counter and was surprised when Skye launched herself into her arms and snuggled close.

"May?"

"Yes?"

"Can you stay and watch Frozen with me now?" Skye asked.

May didn't even hesitate.

"Of course."

She looked up just in time to see Coulson slip away from the door. She was fairly sure he had seen the whole exchange.

She was unexplainably glad that he had allowed her and Skye to work things out without jumping in, giving her the chance to make things right. But she didn't know how she felt about him witnessing the exchange.

But when she passed him in the hall on the way to go watch Frozen, he just smiled and nodded slightly.

* * *

_**D'aawww. **_

_**If you have any ideas for future chapters, tell me! I'll take them into consideration :) **_

_**Please review!**_

_**I want to hear your thoughts!  
And if you don't want to say anything but are enjoying the story, leave me **_:)_** to let me know!**_


	6. Smile

_**So, here's one more chapter of fluff for ya'll! Sorry this is so incredibly late. This is has been a tough semester so far, but I think things are finally working out. Life has a way of making things crappy sometimes. and awesome other times. and freaking busy most of the time.**_

**_There will still be a one shot raffle for a oneshot among my followers once we hit 100! :) If you get picked (randomly) you can order a oneshot of your choice! :)_**

**_Presenting... Fluffiness! Don't worry, things will happen! There will be intense scenes. But we can enjoy the cuteness for now :)  
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Do you really think I'd be writing on fanfiction if i did?_**

* * *

"I drew you a picture!"

Skye held up a crayon drawing, pushing it in front of Coulson's laptop screen. He jumped slightly. Fury had asked him to do some data analyzing and it had consumed his entire day.

"Skye, I'm working…" Coulson took the paper and moved to place it aside when he glanced at it. It was a drawing of him holding Skye's hand. In the background there was a figure with red eyes watching but it was behind a fence, obviously scared of the sword Phil was holding in his hand.

"Do you like it?" Skye beamed.

"I love it. This is going on the fridge," Coulson smiled, sweeping Skye up onto his lap. She smiled and snuggled closer. But after a moment, she grew contemplative.

"That's why I can't go outside, right?" Skye pointed at the crouched figure in her drawing.

"We want you to be safe." _And in here there are about twenty alarm systems and protective measures._

"I miss playing outside," Skye sighed. "And Elsa likes being outside too."

"We go outside sometimes," Coulson reminded her.

"Like the toy store!" Skye's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Exactly."

They were silent for a moment, Coulson's mind drifting back to his work, when Skye spoke up again.

"I'm hungry."

"Tell May, honey, she can get you something."

"I don't know where she is."

And then Phil remembered that May was at a meeting.

And that he was supposed to go grocery shopping and had completely forgot.

So they had no food except ice cream in the freezer and there was no way Coulson was going to feed that to Skye. Sugar tended to send her into a craze.

"I forgot about dinner," Phil groaned, glancing at the clock, which told him it was 6:17 already.

"I know," Skye informed him solemnly. "Can we go to McDonalds?"

Phil looked at her charming smile and wondered briefly if the situation had been partly orchestrated by Skye. After all, why had she allowed him to work for several hours without interruption and had only finally shaken him out of his work coma when it was past the time they usually ate? He had to remember that Skye was sometimes a little scheming and very smart, although always very sweet.

"Did you purposefully not remind me earlier that we were supposed to go grocery shopping?" Coulson asked suspiciously.

Skye's smile widened.

"No." Her large chocolate eyes blinked innocently.

"Liar." Phil tickled her, causing her to giggle. "Alright, we'll go to McDonalds. But let's keep this a secret from May."  
"Yay!" Skye cheered, jumping off Phil's lap and running to get Elsa. "Wait, why can't we tell May?"

"Because I don't think she'd be a fan of McDonalds."  
"But you get a free toy," Skye protested, letting Coulson help her put on her raincoat.

"That is very appealing, but somehow I don't think that would sway her."

* * *

"Chicken nuggets, chicken nuggets, Phil I want chicken nuggets," Skye tugged at Coulson's sleeve.

"How about something that we can actually recognize as meat…" Phil suggested.

"No," Skye shook her head.

"Fine. But what's the deal?"  
"Don't tell May," Skye recited obediently. "I want a toy."

"Um how do I order that?" Coulson desperately scanned the menu lit up above the ordering counter.

"A Happy meal, silly!" Skye smiled, holding tightly to Phil's hand. He noticed how she tensed slightly whenever anyone walked past them.

"Hmm you seem to know a lot about McDonalds," Coulson commented.

"Jill took me here sometimes after school."

"Who's Jill?"

"Foster mom. Sometimes she was nice. Sometimes she'd yell. Or throw things. But she felt bad afterwards." Skye's face betrayed no emotion at her statement and Coulson was cut off from responding because it was his turn to order.

As they stood and waited for their food, Coulson noticed how Skye was gazing at the play structure inside the restaurant.

"Do you want to play?"

"I'm scared," Skye sighed quietly, holding his hand tightly.

"I'll be right here," he assured her. "You can try it and come back if you don't like it."  
"What if someone takes me?"

"I'll be right here."

"Okay." Skye's face took on a look of determination. Her hand slipped out of Phil's and he watched with a great amount of pride as she went to the play structure and began climbing around like the monkey she was.

Coulson's smile faded as he sudden became aware of the man standing beside him also intently focused on Skye's little figure.

The man noticed his protective look and grinned.

"She's a pretty little thing." His dark eyes were almost predatory as they flickered back to Skye.

The growing feeling of sickening unease grew in Phil's gut.

"She's my little girl, and I don't want you staring at her." The words slipped out before Coulson even knew what he was saying.

"Ooh Papa bear, huh?"

"Phil!" Skye came running out of the play structure, halting Coulson's response. "Has our food come?"

The man reached out and touched Skye's beautiful dark hair with a large rough hand.

"Hi beautiful, what's your name?" he grinned.

The punch was not exactly intentional. Coulson didn't _mean_ to knock the man out.

It just sort of happened.

"What is the deal?" he asked Skye, rubbing his bruised knuckles as he pulled into the driveway of their house.

"Don't tell May," Skye smiled, finishing her last chicken nugget. She seemed very un-phased by the violence she had seen Phil perform. Because after all she had thought "that wasn't a very nice man, was he?" and Coulson had agreed while practically dragging her out of the fast food place.

"Right."

They walked into the house. May was sitting at the living room table, working on her laptop.

"Guess what May! Phil forgot dinner so he took me to McDonalds and then he punched this guy there so hard he fell asleep and then we had to grab our food and run away. And I got this in my Happy meal!" Skye held up the small race car up proudly.

"Hmm, my phone's ringing, gotta go," Phil fled the room.

"Coulson!"

But May couldn't be mad for very long, not with the way Skye's sparkling laugh filled the air.

* * *

"Is Phil going to be bald someday?"

The question had come randomly. Skye was curled up next to May on the couch, drawing, Elsa tucked under her arm.

May couldn't help it. She laughed at the absurd question and the image that followed in her mind.

Looking over at Skye, she realized the five year old was studying her curiously.

"You have a pretty laugh and smile."

"Thank you." May's face was already back to its even expression.

"Why don't you smile more?" Skye reached up to play with a strand of May's hair.

May was silent, frozen, caught completely off guard by the innocent question.

"It's hard to smile sometimes," Skye sighed.

"It is. And some people are better at smiling than others." May got off the couch and knelt in front of Skye, making strong eye contact with her. "Some people are full of joy and they make other people happy. You're one of those people. You help people like me see the beauty in the world."

"I want to be strong, like you," Skye said softly. "I don't want to be scared of anything."

"I'm not invincible, Skye. I am scared of things. And I don't want you to be like me," May told her. "I want you to be just who you are."  
Skye hugged May tight and they stayed silent for a moment.

"Elsa too?" Skye finally broke the silence with a grin.

"Elsa too," May smiled.

linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline

* * *

The word that came to Coulson's mind when he watched Skye play with her toys was _resilient_.

He could not imagine what Skye had gone through. She was so little, so seemingly fragile and yet, here she was smiling and talking to her dolls.

There was a certain strength in the tiny girl that he could not even begin to understand.

And God, she was so beautiful. He knew she would later on be a heart breaker… Those huge brown eyes…

She was smart, too. Their miniature math and reading lessons had shown him that. He wasn't exactly sure where she was supposed to be at but he was pretty sure she was ahead.

"Phil?"

He looked up to see May standing in the doorway.

"Can I talk to you?" Her dark eyes darted to Skye then back to his face.

"Sure." Phil quickly got up and they moved to the kitchen. "What's up?"

"Message from Fury. They've had a hit on Centipede. They've found another lab."

"And?" Coulson quickly became serious.

"They only managed to capture two lower down assistants. But they were able to get in before they could evacuate all the information and chemicals. They found several vials of Skye's blood. There were traces of an unknown drug in some of the vials. It seems they are still experimenting with her blood and DNA." May's face was emotionless but Coulson knew her well enough to be able to tell from her posture that she was worried.

"They think they've found another lab and Fury wants us to be there."

"What about Skye?" Coulson frowned, glancing over at the room where she was playing with her dolls.

"He suggested we get a babysitter."

* * *

"Agent Cambres?"  
"No."

"Agent Hanson?"

"Absolutely not."

"Agent Tiaz?"

"Nope. Definitely not."

May looked up from the laptop.

"We need someone," she stated.

"Well none of those agents are fit for watching Skye," Coulson said stubbornly.

May sighed and looked back at the laptop.

"How about Garret?"

Coulson looked up.

"Is he available?"

"I'll contact him."

"Is she really ready for this?" Coulson's brow furrowed.

"I don't think we have a choice. We have to be in Colorado by noon." May's voice held a hind of frustration. "Phil. This has to be done."

Coulson met her gaze.

"You're worried too," he realized.

"There's nothing we can do. We have our orders," May said harshly and stood up and left.

* * *

_**Leave a review and I will be happy! :)  
****Seriously though, what do you think?**_


	7. Apple Slices

_**Hey peeps! Sorry this is so freaking late! Life in college= crazy**_

_**But here's a nice long chapter for you all :)  
And we are 4 followers away from the oneshot raffle! yay! :)**_

_**I would love any thoughts! Please leave a review! It only has to be a smiley face or just a "sup" to make me happy. Because I love hearing from you all!**_

_**Disclaimer: Still don't own stuff**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

"No," Skye whimpered, clinging to Phil's leg. "No no no!" she sobbed, holding tight.

Coulson stared down at the tiny girl, watched the tears stream down her face.

Today was their eighth day together, and she'd made so much progress already. She was starting to smile all the time, and last night she had only had two nightmares instead of the usual three or four.

"Wow, she's attached," Garret commented, shifting his weight uneasily. "Don't worry, Phil. Kids love me. She'll be okay. But wow, you all seem to have bonded fast."

May was studying Garret carefully but Coulson was focused on Skye and Skye only.

A little while ago, she didn't know him, wouldn't even talk to him.

Now she was holding on to his leg crying because he was leaving for a night.

How did all this happen so fast?

Was it even possible?

Why did this five year old even want him there? She barely knew him.

But he cared.

And she knew he cared.

He might be the first one in a very long time to actually care about the little girl now clinging to his leg.

So maybe it did make sense she was sobbing.

Skye had been through so much. This probably felt like her world was being yanked out from underneath her once again.

Unsure what to do, Phil was a bit surprised when it was May who made the first move.

"Skye, listen to me."

One of May's usually battle ready hands was rubbing the little girl's back gently.

"May, don't leave!" Skye cried, transferring to May's arms.

"Skye. Listen to me." May's voice was stern and she stared Skye intensely in the eyes, dark brown burning into chocolate brown. "We are coming back. I promise. I need you to be strong for Phil and I when we're gone. Can you do that for me?"

"I don't want you to go," Skye cried, lip quivering.

"And we don't want to go. But sometimes we have to do things we don't want to. So I need you to be strong and good. Garret will take care of you."

May swiftly kissed Skye on the top of the head, grabbed her suitcase and walked stiffly out of the house.

Phil gave Skye a tight hug then carefully set her down, steeled himself, and followed May out the door, trying to ignore the quiet sounds of crying.

* * *

Skye eventually stopped crying, her sobs turning to pitiful hiccups.

She hugged her Elsa doll close and sat silently at the table, watching the man Phil and May had told her would take care of her.

She wanted Phil and May.

But May wanted her to be strong and good.

Skye would do that for May.

She was done crying. Because she knew that crying didn't do anything.

She remembered crying in that one horrible place. She had cried so much. But nobody had cared until there was the sound of loud bangs and a lady suddenly came running in and took her away from that terrible place and brought her to Phil and May.

Phil hugged her when she cried and May rubbed her back and whispered soothing words she didn't think Skye could actually hear.

But they weren't here.

Garret was.

Skye hugged Elsa even closer.

"Who's your friend, Skye?" Garret asked kindly, gesturing to Elsa.

Skye was silent, her huge eyes staring at him.

"Hmm. Maybe if I guess her name… is it Polly?"  
Skye almost corrected him but stopped herself. Instead she stared down at the ground, examining his shoes. They were worn leather cowboy boots.

Something triggered in Skye's mind, but she didn't know what, it was buried in a haze. But it filled her with incredible unease and solidified her resolve not to engage the man at all. She wasn't going to talk to this man. She didn't know why, but she did not like him.

"How about I get us something to eat, huh? That'll get your mouth moving at least," Garret smiled but Skye's blank expression did not change.

Garret sighed and went into the kitchen.

Skye watched him go with little interest.

A sudden fear entered her mind.

_What if May and Phil never came back?_

Before being taken to the horrible place, Skye had lived with four families that she remembered.

Foster homes weren't permanent.

Tears filled Skye's eyes.

And then Garret came back and set a white plate with three apple slices lined up on it in front of her.

The images flashed back. _She was back in the white room, curled up on the bed, trying to hide from everything. _

_"__It isn't eating," someone said. "It refuses everything we give it. We could keep it hooked on an IV but that's a pain and we're still doing physical tests."_

_"__Don't worry about the IV. I'll make it eat."_

_The door creaked open. _

_"__Mary, come eat." The woman's voice was stern. _

_Skye curled up tighter on the bed._

_"__Listen to me!"_

_Skye found herself being yanked out of the bed. The woman in the white coat was carrying a white plate with three apple slices lined up on it. She pushed Skye onto a chair and placed the apples in front of her._

_Skye shook her head violently, turning to hide her face.  
She didn't want to eat, she just wanted to be away from this place. She didn't know what was happening, and she was so scared, and nobody cared that she was terrified and alone…_

_A sudden jolt of pain coursed through her system. After a moment it faded and Skye, tears leaking from her eyes, looked up to see the lady pointing a small metal tube at her._

_"__Didn't like that, did you?" she sneered. "Well unless you want another shock, eat the food we give you."_

_Skye was stubborn. She didn't like listening to directions. _

_So she slowly shook her head._

_The next jolt of pain was longer._

_"__Eat." The lady ordered once Skye's eyes blinked back into focus.  
This time, hand shaking so much she could barely pick up the apple slice, she did as she was told._

_She was alone, all alone…_

She slowly became aware of someone repeating her name over and over.

Garret.

He felt her touch her back and she sprung away as though she had been bitten, heart pounding frantically.

She was scared.

She was alone.

Garret tried to walk towards her but she backed away further. Elsa was laying on the floor next to her chair and she ran and got the doll. Then she went back for Anna for good measure.

She needed them both right now.

"Skye, please, calm down, I need you to take deep breaths, it's going to be okay. You're okay…" Garret was still trying to approach her, but she turned and ran, scared of him, clutching Anna and Elsa close, avoiding looking at him or those awful mysteriously familiar shoes.

She ran to Coulson's room and climbed into his large bed.

The tears streamed from her eyes as she curled up in the bed.

She wanted Phil and May.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

* * *

"They knew we were coming." May lowered her gun and looked at the empty lab.

The makeshift laboratory housed in the large warehouse was empty. All that remained were the white walls and a couple machines and holding cells. Agents were already scanning the place down, but it was doubtful they would find anything of interest.

Centipede had known they were coming.

"Damn it." Coulson holstered his gun. "How could they have known?"

"Maybe hacked our systems?" Agent Graham reluctantly holstered her gun as well. She tossed her blonde ponytail over her shoulder. "Or…"

She didn't say it but they were all thinking it.

_SHIELD had a leak. _

"Was this a similar place to where you found Skye?" Coulson asked.

He and May had not uttered a word about the girl. To be honest, he was trying not to think about her.

Because being away from her, back out on the field; it felt like a different world. And he wasn't sure how to reconcile those worlds with each other.

But he couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Skye?" Agent Graham's eyebrows rose. They walked through the lab, looking into the empty rooms.

"She changed her name." May finally holstered her gun.

"Did she?" Graham seemed slightly amused. "And yes, we did. She was in a room similar to this one. Unharmed except mild laceration wounds around the wrists."

Coulson felt an unexpected stab in his chest at those words. He pushed away images that followed, but could not stop himself from thinking about the drawing Skye had made, of a girl on a table, held down by bands…

May's jaw clenched slightly, the only sign of emotion Coulson could detect from her.

"Say, I don't suppose you've noticed anything strange about her? Do you think she's human? We heard she was an 0-8-4…"

Something about the way the conversation was turning made Coulson strangely uneasy and even angry.

He just turned and left the room, pausing only to tell her

"That information is classified."

May was right on his heels.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

* * *

"Should we talk about this?" May stared at the road in front of them.

"About what?" Coulson glanced at her. "The fact that there may very well be a mole in SHIELD? Or about the lab? Or…"  
"Skye." May stated.

"Oh."

They were silent for a moment.

"What about her?"  
"We can keep on pretending this is just some mission or we can both admit that perhaps this has become something more," May's voice was even.

"So we care about her. What does it matter?" Coulson said stubbornly.

"It matters because we eventually be reassigned and will have to leave her. We have to do what's best for Skye. Maybe preparing her for us leaving…"

"Is that really what's going to be best for her?" Coulson's voice rose. "The girl has had no stability in her life whatsoever! I checked her record. She's been in _seven_ foster homes! God damn it, the girl is only five years old!"

"This is what I'm talking about. You're getting emotionally attached; looking up facts from her past, trying to help her…"

"Don't give me any of that shit, about _me_ getting attached, May. I've seen the way you look at her. I've seen you calm her down, whispering in her ear when she's crying. I know you destroyed the treadmill after we found out Skye had been tested on one. It's too late. We're both emotionally attached."

May was silent.

"What do we do?" she finally said, voice uncharacteristically uncertain.

Coulson shook his head.  
"I don't know. Keep doing what we're doing and tackle the future when it comes?"  
May didn't look pleased with the plan.

But neither could think of anything else.

There was the unspoken knowledge of what they _should_ do, what they were trained and expected to do; emotionally remove themselves from the situation.

But neither voiced the option. Because to be honest, they no longer really considered that a possibility.

* * *

"I don't get what happened, Phil, I swear, kids usually love me. The little bastards are usually crawling all over me."

Phil almost laughed at the flustered face of Garret when he told her Skye had not said a word the entire time.

"You should have seen our first couple days with her." He paused to pick up a couple toys.

Really he just wanted Garret to get on with it so he could go see Skye. But someone had to debrief the man on the day and Garret was his friend. So May had gone upstairs to find Skye.

"Aw man, she totally melted down when I got her a snack. She was sobbing and shaking…"

"What did you give her?" Phil's head shot up and he stared at Garret.

"Just some apple slices…"  
"Shit, Garret, didn't I write down not to give her those?!" Coulson was suddenly angry.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were joking, I mean, apple slices? Really?"

"What happened?" Coulson couldn't help the clipped nature of his voice. Garret seemed confused with his sudden anger.

"She shut down, I tried to calm her down, but she freaked out when I touched her. She grabbed her dolls and put herself into your room. I kept an eye on her but she obviously doesn't want anything to do with me. Other than that, things have been quiet. You have this place well rigged. It's secure as any safe house out there."

"She's here for a reason," Coulson tried to calm his irrational irritation with his friend. But suddenly all he wanted to do was find Skye and tell her she was okay and not to be scared…

"So, what went down at the lab?"

Coulson quickly relayed what had happened.

"Well shit." Garret looked just as troubled as Coulson felt. "Alright then, I'll leave you two to your job. Let me know if you can take a look at those encryptions I sent you the other day."

"Of course."

Garret left with one last easy smile. Coulson closed the door behind him with a relief that made him feel guilty.

"Is she okay?" he called up the stairs.

"We'll be down in a minute!" May called back.

Coulson sat down on the couch, absentmindedly looking through Skye's crayon drawings again.

He found a drawing of a woman with black hair dressed in black and apparently chopping a board in half. He grinned at the messy scrawl at the bottom of the page that spelled out _MAY._

And then another drawing caught his eye.

He almost missed it, the paper peeking out from under another drawing.

His heart started pounding furiously as he slowly picked the paper up.

There in bold blood red crayon, was a drawing of a skull with tentacles.

The symbol of Hydra.

* * *

_**Dun dun dunnnnnnnnn**_

_**So Skye is safe... for now... *evil laugh***_

**_Let me know what ya'll think! :)_**


	8. Fires Lit

_**Hello Friends!**_

_**Sorry for the long wait. Life is freaking crazy. Homework, church, college ministry, helping friends through anxiety, managing my own anxiety, a friend in the hospital for overdose...**_

_**Yeah. well. Enough about me. **_

_**Sorry this chapter is so late! **_

_**Also. Using a random number generator, I am excited to announce that whitetiger1249 is the winner of the oneshot drawing!**_

_**Yay!**_

_**Alright, without further ado, here is Chapter 8! **_

_**Thanks again for being so awesome and supportive! You are amazing readers, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**_

_**Disclaimer: don't own stuff**_

* * *

_He almost missed it, the paper peeking out from under another drawing. _

_His heart started pounding furiously as he slowly picked the paper up._

_There in bold blood red crayon, was a drawing of a skull with tentacles._

_The symbol of Hydra._

* * *

"Phil!" Skye called, snuggled happily in May's arms.

Coulson dropped the paper, quickly hiding it under the couch.

"Skye! I missed you!" he reached out to hug her and she jumped from May's arms to his.

"I missed you too. I was scared you would never come back."

Her tiny frame shuddered in his arms.

"You didn't want to play with Garret?" Coulson smoothed her hair.

Skye shook her head and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Should we ask about the apples?" May whispered Coulson. He shook his head, somehow sensing how much emotional turmoil the little girl had been through.

"Not yet. Skye, honey, where's Elsa? Did you leave her upstairs?"

"Oh! I did!" Skye realized.

"Hmm, maybe you should go get her." Phil put Skye down.

"Okay!" Skye started running towards the stairs, but suddenly Phil grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. He kissed the top of her head and began tickling her.

She shrieked with laughter.

It was a sound both agents were happy to hear.

"I guess she likes being tickled." May was actually smiling as she watched Skye bound up the stairs.

"I guess so," Phil was beaming.

Suddenly his smile faded.

"May, I found this."  
He pulled out the drawing of the Hydra symbol.

"Shit," May whispered, taking the paper. "How could she know this?"  
"She must have seen it in the lab."

"Shit."

"We have to ask her to know for sure."

"How could Hydra be involved? We took them down!"

"We have to ask her. Maybe this is a false alarm."  
They turned to Skye who was running back to them holding Elsa and Anna.

"Elsa _and_ Anna? It must have been a rough day," Phil tried to keep his voice light.

"Well, Anna missed you and she was scared so I kept her with me too."

"Well, that's good of you and I'm sorry Anna was scared."

"She's okay now." Skye cradled her dolls close.

"Skye, we need to ask you something really important." May sat Skye down on the couch.

"Can you tell me why you drew this? And what it is?" Coulson held up the drawing.

Skye stopped smiling.

"Skye? It's okay, you're safe now. But we need you to tell us about this."

"It's… it's from the horrible place." Skye was sinking back into the couch.

May pulled Skye onto her lap, wrapping her arms around her.

"The lady, it was on her silver machine."

"Her laptop?"

Skye nodded, leaning her head against May's shoulder.

"She wore a white coat and she was mean."

They had gotten the information they needed, but Coulson wasn't ready for the conversation to be over. Skye was actually sitting in front of them, talking about what happened. Maybe this would help. People always said it helped to talk about things.

"Why do you say she was mean?" May asked the question he was about to.

"She never smiled, and she pointed this thing at me when I wouldn't eat the apples and it hurt and was scary. And she would make me lie on a table and they put these things around my hands so I couldn't get up and she made them poke me with needles…" At this point the tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking in May's arms. "And I had to do different things, and nobody would talk to me and I was so scared. Nobody was nice there," Skye whimpered, unaware of the anguish on the two agents watching her were experiencing as they watched the little girl try to put into words what had happened to her.

"You're here with us now," May promised, gently rocking the tiny girl and smoothing her hair.

Coulson watched the stern agent comfort the five year old, feeling as though he was intruding in a private moment. He could barely believe the tenderness he was beginning to see in May. It seemed to be reserved for Skye and Skye only.

They were definitely in way over their heads.

And now to add to the mess, Hydra was involved.

* * *

"How the hell could this happen!" Fury roared.

It was a bizarre scene, the Director waving a messy five year old's crayon drawing in the air with a murderous expression on his face.

Nobody was laughing. In fact, everywhere only shocked and horrified looks were found.

Fury had called an emergency meeting for the top operatives of SHEILD.

"We now also know that Hydra is involved with Centipede and the girl is somehow connected. To both organizations now. Where is she now?" Fury turned to Coulson.

"Same location. It has proved to be secure."

"Good. Now can someone tell me why the hell we haven't pinned down Centipede and cut off its legs?"

"They've been one step ahead of us, sir. As soon as we pinpoint a location and move in, they move out."

The room was absolutely silent at that statement.

"We... We believe that Centipede is working to create a genetic alteration that will turn a human into a super soldier, enhanced reflexes, strength, everything. We were able to extract some of the serum found in the vial's of the girl's blood found at the second lab."  
"Hydra might be funding them to create an army."

"The girl was needed because they have so far had no success in getting the serum to fuse with human DNA. The results of the in depth scans recently came back from the lab where the girl was held. Five remains of bodies were found in the dirt under the compound. What was left of their burnt cells was wildly mutated."

"And the girl?"

"Her 0-8-4 status means her identity is unknown. Somehow they got her location from our database."  
"That information is _very_ secure," Fury growled.

"Why didn't they inject the girl with the serum right away?" someone else asked. "Why all the tests first?"

"They probably were seeking to pinpoint her species. Besides, she holds a high value. They would not throw away her life so easily."

"I suggest we bring the girl in ourselves and study her."

"Absolutely not," Coulson's blue eyes sparked with anger.

He had been listening mostly in silence, increasingly disturbed by the way Skye was being referred to as a subject and species and…

"Coulson? Can you give me a good reason for that statement?" Fury raised his eyebrows.

"I can personally testify that _Skye_, yes, the girl has a name, was severely traumatized by her stay in the lab. To bring her back into a similar situation would be the same as torturing her. And let me remind you, whatever species or strange blood she has, Skye is a five year old little girl. For God's sakes, think of your daughters if you have one, or your nieces or your sisters. I hope SHEILD is still an organization that will protect the basic human rights of a little girl." Coulson's voice held a dangerous edge.

"Coulson, sometimes the needs of many…" Agent Graham's voice was quiet.

"When we make those choices, the person sacrificing does so willingly. Are you suggesting we subject a small girl to torture against her will?!"

"It isn't torture…"  
"Trust me, to her it will be!"

"Then that's her problem. We aren't going to hurt her…"

"Whether or not you mean to, it will hurt her. And I will not stand for that!" Coulson shouted.

"Enough!" Fury roared. "The girl is not vital to catching Centipede and Hydra at this point. There is no need to involve her at the moment. We will focus our energy on the task at hand! And I will not have my agents fight at this crucial moment. I want answers on how information was leaked and where Centipede and Hydra are now so we can take them down. Am I understood?!"

There was murmured assent and the room quickly cleared.

"Phil? A word?" Fury stopped Coulson as he began to exit.

"Sir?" Coulson turned to face his superior.

"You seem to feel strongly about matters regarding the girl."

"If we begin using people for our purposes, we are no better than those we seek to destroy," Coulson stated.

"I agree. But matters never are quite so black and white."  
"There are some areas where we cannot blur lines, sir."

"Coulson, I gave you and May this job because I know you both are capable of protecting this girl. Also because I know you are capable of compassion, and that is what children respond the most to. This girl may one day be crucial. Having an agent she trusts could be very useful."  
"You are using me to control Skye," Coulson translated.

"The world is not that black and white."  
"I'm not saying it is, but I stand beside my previous statement that some lines cannot be blurred."

"All I am saying is I need you to be ready to do your job, whatever that entails." Fury was already backing his briefcase, conversation clearly over.

"My job entails protecting Skye and that is what I will do," Coulson's blue eyes sparked slightly.

* * *

**_Hit that review button and let me know what you think :)_**


	9. Without a Carseat

**_Chapterrrrrrrrrrr_**

**_Sorry it's so late :( Someday I promise I will have time and a life and be worthy of your beautiful reviews and interest in my story._**

**_Until then I will flail around in homework and sob because I failed my readers by not being a regular updater :(_**

**_Disclaimer: Don't own it._**

* * *

"Where's Phil?" Skye asked for the millionth time.

"He had to go to a meeting for work. Don't let go of my hand." May clutched Skye's hand tightly as they walked through the crowded court of the mall.

While Coulson was out, Fury had ordered that the house be reassessed and equipped for extra safety. May had decided it would be a good idea for Skye to not be there when a bunch of strange people came into the house and began working with power tools and wires. Skye didn't need to know what was happening or see that.

So instead they were in the mall and May was not completely at ease with the situation. But malls were large public places and would be relatively safe. Besides, Skye was a person. They could not keep her cooped up in one place forever. Even if it might be safer, she needed to get out once in awhile.

"Look!" Skye was immediately attracted to the Frozen poster in the Disney shop. They stopped to look at it, May glancing warily around, on her guard.

"What a beautiful little girl!"

May almost punched the woman out of surprise. It was a mother, holding her little blonde haired girl's hand.

"Thank you," May said cautiously.

"Is her father white?" the woman asked curiously, flipping her sandy blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Excuse me?" May stared at her.

"I mean, just look at those eyes. Mixed children can look kind of interesting sometimes but she's beautiful. She's going to break some hearts."  
"And I'm going to break some bones if you don't stop commenting on my child's race," May spit out.

May had never seen a middle aged woman drag her child away so fast.

"You called me your kid," was all Skye had to offer on the encounter.

"I suppose I did."

That's when May spotted the gun on the man casually strolling towards them. His jacket fell back for a moment as he paused and bent over to tie his shoe. She quickly scanned the area and found several other men walking towards them.

"Time to go." May picked up Skye and began briskly walking towards the exit that would bring them to the car. She pulled out her transmitter. "This is May, I have Skye and there are potentially four men in pursuit of us. Identities not known."  
"May?" Skye clung to her neck. May glanced behind her to see that the men were beginning to jog after them.

"It's going to be okay. Just hang on, okay?"

And then May began sprinting. She wove in and out of the crowd with almost inhuman agility.

There were shouts and the men were running after them as well.

Skye screamed as one of them suddenly appeared in front of them, in the doorway they were about to go through. Without stopping, May kicked the man in the stomach while simultaneously twisting her body so that Skye would be shielded from the possibility of a blow from the man.

"This is May, I need back up, now!" May yelled into her transmitter, taking off across the parking lot.

"My car seat!" Skye cried as May leapt into the car with her still in her arms.

"No time." May grunted, starting the car. With one hand clutching Skye and the other steering the car, May put the car into drive and sped off.

* * *

"May kicked a guy in the stomach," Skye reported to Coulson as soon as he walked through the door.

"Thank God you're alright!" Phil hugged the girl. And then, to her great surprise, he hugged May as well.

"We don't know who they were or how they found us, but I can guarantee they did not find the safe house. We spent a couple hours in a safe location and took a different car back. Zero tails. I'm pretty sure we left them at the mall anyways. No cars followed us." May reported, not reacting to Coulson's hug, although he knew her well enough to notice her cheeks were the slightest bit pinker than usual.

"I drove without a car seat," Skye interjected to tell Phil.

"As long as you're unharmed, I'll say just this once, that was okay," Coulson assured her.

"Will you read me a story?" Skye asked.

Phil looked wearily at her. He was exhausted and there was so much to do. Centipede to catch, Hydra to root out, a mole to discover…

"Alright." He relented after about two seconds of trying to resist Skye's puppy eyes. "What book?"

"The Bear Family," Skye answered promptly. It seemed she was prepared, because the book was laying on the coffee table.

"Alright. And then I have to go work, okay?"

"Okay." Skye snuggled up in his lap.

"Once upon a time, there was a bear family. There was a Mommy Bear and Daddy Bear and Little Bear. They lived in the Happy Woods…"  
Coulson had never been impressed with the incredibly sentimental, horribly written story of Little Bear getting lost in the woods and Mommy Bear and Daddy Bear going out and finding him, but something about the story seemed to enthrall Skye.

He was just happy that it wasn't a story from The Complete Frozen Story Book.

They sat for a moment and stared at the last page where Little Bear was being hugged by Mommy and Daddy Bear.

"That's what mommys and daddys do, right?" Skye said suddenly.

"What?" Phil asked curiously.

"They find their kids and love them and won't let them to get hurt."

"That's right."

"Oh." Skye looked thoughtful.

"What are you thinking, pumpkin?"

Skye didn't answer his question. Instead she gave him a hug and slid off the couch.

"Thank you for the story, Daddy."

* * *

_Skye called him Daddy._

_And he had been thrilled._

Phil Coulson didn't know which fact was more worrying.

And then there was the fact that someone had managed to find May and Skye at the mall. They still didn't know who or how.

"What happened at the meeting?" May appeared in the doorway.

"Just a discussion on Centipede and Hydra."

"So what really happened?"

May always could see right through him. She had an uncanny ability of sensing when he was deeply troubled.

"There was talk about SHEILD bringing in Skye and running our own tests," Coulson admitted.

"No."

May's dark eyes were suddenly wild with protective anger and one hand instinctively reached for her gun.

"I told them absolutely not. But even the fact that they would bring it up…" Coulson sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"They can't seriously think that's an option," May's nostrils flared. "Who suggested it first?!"

"I'm a little scared you might do something stupid if I told you so I don't think I will. Please May, we have to stay calm. For Skye if not for anything else. We can't let her know anything is wrong. She's made so much progress."

"Just a few minutes ago, she called me Mommy." May stared at Coulson.

"And she called me Daddy."

"What are we going to do?" May said quietly.

"I don't know. I really don't know."

* * *

_**Thank you for being awesome.**_


	10. Those Shoes

_**Thank you so much for your kind reviews! You all are so amazing and understanding! I am doing a lot better now!**_

_**Here's the next chapter :) I'll try not to leave ya'll hanging too long. I'm pretty sure you know what's coming.**_

_**Also, working on the oneshot I promised! :)**_

**_Thanks everyone. Stay awesome :)_**

* * *

"Can I have more broccoli?" Skye smiled sweetly.

Despite their best efforts, the girl had clearly noticed something was going on and that the two agents were worried about something.

As a result, Skye had suddenly become the most incredibly well behaved little girl they had ever seen. Mischievous pranks and attempts at getting onto their technology halted. Instead Skye seemed suddenly very intent on pleasing them.

However the agents just wanted Skye to be herself.

"Skye, you hate broccoli." May reminded her dryly, exchanging a look with Coulson.

"It's for Elsa," Skye informed her.

"Elsa also hates broccoli."

Skye's face fell as she realized she had been caught. Elsa indeed also hated broccoli.

"Skye?"

"Yes?" Skye looked at Phil guiltily.

"Why are you trying to please us?"

"I don't want you to be upset."

"We're not upset with you, Skye. You haven't done anything wrong. We are worried about some things going on at our work. It isn't you." Phil assured her."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Skye asked.

May smiled slightly, recognizing the phrase as one she and Phil often asked Skye when the little girl was upset herself.

"Just be yourself, okay? When you're happy, that makes us happy," Coulson told her.

"Okay." Skye paused to consider that. "In that case, can I have some ice cream?"

May smiled and went to the freezer to get ice cream for all of them.

They started to regret allowing a second helping of ice cream when Skye was literally bouncing off the walls.

May's most recent self defense lesson had involved a basic kick, paired with specific instructions that violence was always a last measure option.

Still, fuelled by sugar, Skye decided she wanted to try her kick to break down a door and it took every ounce of May's agility training to leap through a minefield of spilled Legos and catch the little girl before she could break her foot.

Skye then wriggled out of May's grip, pickpocketing her phone in the process.

"Maybe we should have let her keep being perfect," May grumbled as she finally pocketed her phone, which had gained three Frozen apps by the time she was able to retrieve it.

"Maybe," Coulson laughed at May. Until Skye decided she wanted to wear _his_ beloved slippers.

An hour later, Skye was literally asleep on the floor and Coulson and May were sitting on the couch trying to calculate the risk of waking Skye if they moved her.

"Can you believe how much she's changed?" Coulson marveled. "She's mischievous and troublesome, but so sweet and caring at the same time… She's so affectionate."

"She isn't the same girl," May agreed.

"Do you think we've changed?" Phil paused to look at May. There was a softness around her eyes, a tenderness only Skye was allowed to receive. Before this mission, he had never seen that side of the closed off, war torn agent.

He wondered what she saw when she looked at him.

"I think we have," she said finally.

"I think I like it." Phil gently took her hand. She stiffened at first but then held it tightly.

* * *

"We need to move Skye off the grid," Coulson ground his teeth. "I don't understand why you haven't ordered it already."

"Because we have a plan." Fury told Coulson. "One that could get us a good hit on Hydra."

"Why does that involve Skye?" Coulson raised his eyebrows, jaw clenching slightly.

"Sit down. I will lay it out for you."

"Why did you just call me to meet with you?" Coulson looked around at the empty room.

"Due to the fact that Centipede has been consistently one step ahead of us this whole time, we need to keep this information between as few operatives as possible. I'm not saying there's a mole, just that this is a necessary precaution." Fury leaned forward. "Now, we know Centipede is after the girl, their pervious subject. A SHEILD scientist is convinced that her blood is in fact compatible with the serum, based on the samples we were able to find at the first lab raid. If we make the announcement that we are moving the girl, it is likely Centipede will move during the transfer, which would typically be our weakest point. We'll be ready for them and can hopefully catch the leak in our information at the same time. The act will not look suspicious, thanks to the attack at the mall. They would have every reason to believe that the girl is being moved for her safety."  
"You want to use Skye as bait," Coulson stiffened.

"Coulson, it is a sound plan."

"And if something goes wrong?"

"It's a risk we have to take."

"No, it's not. Centipede is likely to suspect that we would realize they would try to attack in transit. They will come prepared. More than likely, the scene will turn into a warzone. We will be both putting Skye in grave danger and damaging our own agent's abilities to fight. If we really want to do this, we have to focus all our energy on taking them down, not scrambling to protect Skye. And if all fails, we cannot let Centipede have the one thing that they are after." Coulson paused. "I propose we continue with your plan, except with one alteration. Skye will not actually be present. She will stay in the safehouse."

"As always, your reasoning is sound. But we need this to be completely convincing to lure them in."

"We can pull a car into the garage. There's no way they would know who is in the car."

Fury hesitated.

"Alright." He agreed and Coulson felt a rush of relief. "The number of people who know the actual plan have to be as few as possible. We will need another agent to watch the girl, you and May have to come with us in order to make this convincing. We need someone trusted and who has not been involved in this mission, so that their absence at the transport will not be noticed."

"Agreed. And I suggest we keep this between that agent, May, myself, and you, sir."

"Absolutely. How about Garret? Wasn't he the one who watched the girl last time?"

"Yes, but…"

"Actually, now that I think about it, he will do quite perfectly. He was not even aware of the raids until the second one, and he has not really been involved or present with the situation. Yes. I'll assign Garret to the position. He's a trusted senior agent."

"Skye doesn't like him," Phil shook his head.

Director Fury's eyebrows rose.

"Coulson, I do not give a shit about whether Skye likes him or not. Get your priorities straight. Garret is my choice, end of discussion. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir," Coulson murmured. He knew this was one battle he would not win.

"Excellent. Let us begin the preparations."

* * *

"But I don't want you to leave," Skye's lip quivered.

"I know sweetie," Phil held her close. "But Garret will take care of you."

"No!" Skye wailed.

"Why don't you like him?" Phil held her tighter. One of her hands was playing with his hair.

"His shoes," Skye whimpered. "His shoes."

"What?"

Coulson and May exchanged a confused look.

"His shoes?" May took a step forward.

Garret always wore cowboy boots but there wasn't anything particularly scary about them.

At that moment, Garret walked back into the room.  
"We're all set for you to go," he told them. "Hey Skye, how are you today?"

Skye buried her face in Coulson's shoulder.

"I like your tutu. Is that color blue your favorite color?" Garret tried with an easy smile but was only met with silence.

"We'll just say our final goodbyes really quick." Coulson told Garret, and he smiled and nodded but didn't seem to get the hint.

So ignoring him, Coulson kissed Skye on the forehead.

"We'll be back soon and then all this will be over."

"We'll watch Frozen? Me, you, and May?" Skye asked, tears starting to trail down her face.

"Of course. I'll see you soon sweetie."

May took Skye, glancing at Garret, and held the girl close, whispering things into her ear, words that were only for Skye to hear.

"Time to move out," Fury appeared. May kissed Skye's cheek and set the girl down reluctantly. Phil and May began to walk toward the garage door when May suddenly grabbed Phil's arm.

"Phil, I have a bad feeling about this," May hissed.

"What?" Coulson whispered. "Why?"  
"I don't know, I just do." May's voice was harsh.

It was extremely uncharacteristic and fairly alarming for May to pause and say she had a bad _feeling_ about something.

Still, he pushed it away. They knew they were about to step into a battle, it was probably nerves. Ever since Bahrain, May avoided combat. However, she had agreed to this. It was no wonder that she was on edge. Once they got through this day, everything would be over and hopefully Skye would be out of danger for good.

May stared at Phil, dark eyes troubled.

"Hey," Phil touched her shoulder. "We're in this together. Let's just get this over with."

He started for the exit, making himself not look back to where Skye was most definitely crying on the stairs.

May followed.

* * *

_**I know you all probably hate me for leaving you here but I'll try to update more quickly! :)**_


	11. Back and Forth

_**Hey! Next chapter for you all!**_

**_Small note: I have as of right now exhausted basically all the writing I had stored up for this story. I don't think I'll be able to write till after I finish my essay due Thursday. But I'll try to get the update out in no longer than a week!_**

**_Thanks all!_**

**_Can't wait for tonight's episode! :)_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff. I just play with it._**

* * *

So far the trip had been extremely quiet. Everyone was on edge, clutching their guns, ready for any movement.

Phil watched a bead of sweat slide down the side of May's face.

He would rather be fighting than wait for an attack to come at any moment.

The farther along they went, the more tense everyone got.

Coulson watched a chain hanging from the ceiling swing back and forth.

Finally they got halfway through their planned route.

The chain swung back and forth.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Coulson glanced at May. Her face was stiff and hard, her eyes darker than he had seen in a long time.

Absentmindedly he wondered what Skye was doing.

She had said she didn't like Garret because of his _shoes_.

The five year old had said some pretty crazy things. After all, she shut down when she saw apple slices and regularly had conversations with a doll. But behind the creative imagination, things always made some sort of sense. There were always patterns, some harder to find than others.

The van jolted on a pothole and Coulson was shaken out of his thoughts. What was he doing? Thinking about a five year old's thought process while waiting to be attacked?

He briefly wondered if he even had the same brain he had before Skye had entered his life. Sometimes it felt like that was a no.

"We're here," someone announced.

There was a sort of stunned silence. Nobody knew quite what to do.

"Either they didn't take the bait or…"

Or one of the four people who knew the true plan had betrayed them.

May was out of the question. Fury was also above suspect.

That left….

Garret.

Phil's eyes widened.

Suddenly little pieces came together.

_"__He was not even aware of the raids until the second one…"_ Fury's voice echoed in his head.

The only successful raid, the one where Skye was recovered, was the one Garret had not had any knowledge on. The rest of the times, they had known SHEILD was coming.

Garret knew the location of the safe house after he babysat. And it was only after then the agents had run into them at the local mall.

His shoes.  
What if Skye recognized those shoes from some hazy memory from the lab?

Phil looked up and met May's gaze. Her eyes were wide, mirroring the panic he was sure was visible on his face as well.

Garret was their leak.

And he was with Skye.

* * *

"Looks like it's just the two of us, kiddo," Garret smiled. Skye didn't react, just stared at him blankly.

And suddenly she remembered why those shoes looked familiar.

_They had poked her with a needle again and the world was going black. She fought it, not wanting to sink away. She was scared, but the quickly enclosing darkness was scarier. Somehow she managed to stumble out of the chair but collapsed to the ground. She lay still on the ground, darkness finally becoming too much and rushing up to meet her. Right before the world disappeared, she saw a pair of worn cowboy boots stepping towards her._

Garret had been at the lab.

Skye's gaze changed to one of horror and she took a step back.

Garret's smile changed to a sneer.

"I was certain you wouldn't remember me. You were unconscious the only time I visited you, but it seems you somehow do in fact finally remember me."

Skye bolted.

Garret was prepared and Skye wasn't fast enough. He grabbed her wrists, holding her tight.

"Daddy! Mommy!" Skye screamed.

"Well isn't that precious." Garret smiled. "But it's time for you to stop playing little girl and to find out what you really are."

Skye felt a prick on the back of her neck and the world went black.

* * *

"It was Garret. They're gone. He disabled all the cameras and alarms, he must have taken information on them last time he was here to learn how to shut them down. We have no idea where he went…" Fury turned and began talking to other agents, laying out plans, talking about taking actions…

May didn't hear a word he was saying.

Instead her gaze was fixed on a toy on the carpet.

May slowly picked up Elsa from where she lay strewn on the floor, examining the doll.

Her hands were shaking.

She didn't know if it was from anger or fear.

Oh God. This couldn't be happening.

But Elsa was still lying in her hands, her caretaker absent.

May felt her ability to function slipping away.

Just like with the images and thoughts that haunted her from Bahrain, she attempted to shut down her mind.

She couldn't.

She saw Skye scared, Skye crying with nobody to comfort her, Skye hurt…

The anger and fear swelled in her chest, consuming her entire conscience, drowning out all else…

A touch on her shoulder jolted her and she looked up to see Phil crouched next to her.

Silently he took the doll from her hands, stroking the platinum hair. He turned, and she saw the fear in his blue eyes.

Wordlessly, he embraced her and she silently clutched him tightly. Finally they broke apart and May had regained some semblance of her composure.

"Someone is going to pay," she said finally, pulling out her gun.

The venom in her gaze made even the most experienced agents shrink back.

"Wait," Coulson caught her hand. "We do this together."

May looked at him evenly for a moment then nodded.

* * *

When Skye woke up, she was in a white room.

Her body felt so heavy and her head hurt a lot. She felt like she was swimming through syrup, trying to get to the surface and reach clarity, but she was trapped trying to get through the thickness.

The feelings were sickening familiar.

Skye closed her eyes, not wanting to believe this was actually happening.

She opened them again.

It was real.

And Skye was very very scared.

She knew Phil and May weren't with her, but she had to check anyway. Maybe they would sweep in and rescue her.

"Daddy," she croaked, the word catching in her dry throat. "Mommy."

There was no reply.

Skye slowly eased her tiny body into a sitting position, tears beginning to escape down her face as she looked around the empty room.

One wall was made completely out of glass, including the door. A woman was standing on the other side, staring in.

Skye shrunk against the bed, trying to disappear.

_Take in the area, and most importantly, stay calm_.

May's words from a threat assessment lesson rang in Skye's head.

_Stay calm._

Skye took a deep breath.

She would stay calm for Phil and May. They would find her, she _knew_ it. Because that was what mommies and daddies did.

She just had to be brave for them until they found her.

So Skye sat up and stared right back at the lady in the white coat.

_May will kick your butt_! Skye mentally told the lady, crossing her arms.

Their eyes locked for a moment. The lady seemed surprised that Skye was actually looking back at her for the first time. Then the lady diverted her gaze, avoiding eye contact with Skye, and quickly walked away.

Skye actually smiled very very slightly.

When the woman was gone, her smile faded and she drew her knees up to her chin.

She would wait for her Mommy and Daddy to come and get her.


	12. I'm Sorry

_**I am so sorry. **_

_**I really am. **_

_**Really really really sorry.**_

_**I hope you are somehow able to forgive me. I hope to have the next chapter up by the end of this week. It will be full of action. And feels. I haven't really decided how much pain I want to put Skye through (she's so cute and little)**_

_**Any thoughts on that dilemna?**_

_**Anyways, you all are amazing. Thanks for your patience. Sorry this chapter is a bit short. **_

_**Get ready for the next chapter! It's gonna be long and action packed!**_

_**I do not own Agents of Shield. **_

* * *

"We have no idea where to even begin!" May paced back and forth. "She could be anywhere."

May's hands were clenched so tightly her knuckles were white.

Coulson was seated in a chair but his posture said anything but comfort. Both agents' faces were tight and eyes were haunted with worry.

"We have to use their strength to find their weakness," Coulson said suddenly.

"What the hell does that mean?" May turned on him, jaw clenched.

"Their strength was that they had someone on the inside. This gave them access to a huge amount of SHEILD resources."

"Yes, Garret was on the inside, we know, damn it Phil, Skye…"  
"Melinda, listen to me."

The use of her first name made the fierce woman pause.

"Look at me."

May's eyes couldn't pull themselves away from his bright blue ones, as if a magnet was drawing her towards them and locking her in.

"We are going to get her back."

The complete faith in his eyes calmed her, reminded her what she appreciated so much about him.

"Alright. What were you saying?" May took a deep breath.

"Their strength has been their inside information and access to SHEILD resources. We can use that to track them down. It's a long shot but there's a chance that they haven't cleared out their entire transaction history, especially with this rather sudden ousting."

"So we've got to move fast."

* * *

"We have a hit on a sedative that we traced back to a bank account linked with Garrett."

"Can we trace it?" May leaned in.

"We can try." Coulson nodded to a young computer technician.

He shifted closer to May, watching as information flew across the screen in front of the computer technician. Somehow Melinda's strong presence grounded him. Reminded him that somewhere under all that information flashing across the screen, responding to the tech girl's fingertips, was a little girl that they _would_ find.

Ever so subtly, strong smooth fingers crept into Coulson's hand. He was surprised at the contact, but relished it immensely at the same time.

Coulson held Melinda's hand tightly. He was afraid to ask the question, but with her hand in his, he summoned the strength.

"So do you think you can find something we could go off of?"

"They're good," the young woman frowned. "There's barely a trail to follow."

"Barely," Coulson repeated. "So…"

"So there is something. Like I said, they're good. But we're good too." The computer technicians fingers flew across the keyboard, new information popping up on the screen.

"It's going to take a little time."  
"We don't have time." May spoke up, voice hard.

The young technician looked apologetic.

"I'm going as fast as I can. Give me an hour."

"Come on." Phil murmured to May. "We have to have faith. We're going to find her."

The expression on May's face did not change the slightest. But Couslon felt the pressure on his hand increase every so slightly.

AOSAOSAOS

Skye sniffed, dark eyes studiously fixed on the blank wall in front of her.

A tear dripped down her face and she hurried to wipe it away. Different things hurt, places were needles had been, places where chemicals under her skin ached and ached.

But what hurt the most was being alone. Being alone and wanting the only people she ever felt safe with.

A scientist brought a tray of food in and left.

Another scientist was chatting with a man outside the room, visible through the large glass window.

Skye took the tray of food and brought it back to the corner, behind the bed, where she was the least visible from the window. She ate because she remembered May telling her that taking care of oneself was the most important form of self-defense.

She tugged at the white gown they had dressed her in, wishing for her soft blue sweatshirt Phil had bought her when she first had come to their house.

She wished she had her Elsa doll to hug.

She wished she was beside May, knowing she was safe from the world when she was next to her.

She wished for so much.

But the world she was stuck in was a nightmare. All she wanted to do was wake up and be back home.

She couldn't wake up because this was real life and she was stuck. Stuck until Phil and May came to get her.

But she knew they would come for her. She _knew_ it.

AOS AOS AOS AOS AOS

* * *

"We have a location," Coulson burst into Fury's office. In this situation, time was of the essence. Every minute they waited was a minute Skye was there alone… with god knows what happening to her. Every minute she could be taken away from then.

"Excellent." Fury stood up.

"I'll assemble a team." Phil turned to leave.

"No."

Coulson turned slowly.  
"What?"

"This is not something we can rush into. We are dealing with Hydra. We have to take them down."

"I am aware of Hydra and the implication there. However, there is a civilian girl being held captive. She has to be our first priority." Coulson's blue eyes flashed dangerously.

"We cannot allow Hydra to continue."

"They are doing _medical experiments _on a _little girl_. We _cannot_ allow them to continue for any longer than absolutely necessary." Coulson's expression hardened.

"I'm sorry Coulson. This is a chance to take down Hydra that we cannot mess up. I think you have been emotionally compromised. We are taking you and May off this mission."

* * *

_**So that's going to go over well with May...**_

_**Thanks again friends! I'll see you soon at the next chapter!**_


	13. Dr Simmons

**_So I know I'm kinda bending some time and age relationships but I was TOTALLY having complete writer's block._**

**_And then I was like Jemma Simmons is amazing (although I've been a little disappointed in her behavior in the end of season 2 but that's a different convo)_**

_**So in a desperate attempt to motivate myself, I put our favorite genius pair in. I imagine them as very young adults, maybe still teenagers, impulsive and wayyyy in over their heads. I'll explain more how they ended up where they are.**_

_**Whooooooo totally going off the plan now but I was so stuck that I actually feel like this is a good option.**_

_**Disclaimer: Don't own Agents of SHEILD **_

* * *

"Are you ready to see the subject Dr. Simmons?"

Skye curled up in the corner of her room, trying to avoid the watching eyes.

"She's small."

The voice sounded funny, like the woman didn't quite know how to pronounce her words correctly.

Skye couldn't help it; she snuck a glance at the doctor.

She was a very young slender woman with large brown eyes and pretty face.

She looked nice.

But she had a white lab coat on. And she was a doctor.

As their brown eyes met, something changed in the woman's expression. It was a look of softness, of kindness… It was the same look May and Phil had when they first met her.

The lead scientist lady turned to the young doctor and the look quickly disappeared.

"Are you ready to examine her?" The lead scientist lady asked the new doctor.

"Absolutely."

A lab assistant moved past the doctor and mean scientist lady and approached Skye.

"No!" Skye whimpered, curling in on herself even further. But her body didn't have the strength to resist anymore, not with the different drugs coursing through her veins.

She kept her eyes closed at she was taken to a different room and trapped in a chair with cuffs.

May and Phil would come for her. She just had to hold on for them.

It was the thin thread that kept her from collapsing completely.

She could hear different voices talking, including the funny voice of the doctor, and then the door opened, footsteps went out, and it was quiet.

"Hey pumpkin, it's okay."

There was a soft touch to her temple as some of Skye's tangled hair was brushed out of her face.

Skye opened her eyes to find the doctor lady kneeling in front of her, brown eyes large and worried.

It was the first kind touch she had felt in what felt like forever and Skye couldn't help it; the damn broke and the tears poured down her face as she began to sob.

She wanted May and Phil. She wanted her mommy and daddy.

Gentle hands stroked her hair. It reminded her of May and made her want to cry even harder.

"I know you're scared, but I'm here to help, I promise." The doctor lady said in her funny voice that tilted and spun word sounds in the wrong way.

Skye's crying slowed as she stared at the doctor.

She was a scientist. She wore a white coat. She would hurt Skye.

"My name is Jemma. I'm here with my friend Fitz because we want to help you," the young woman said soothingly. "I won't hurt you."

To prove her point, Jemma fiddled with something and the tiny cuffs on the chair designed especially for Skye came open and she snatched her arms to her chest, confused. Cradling her arms to her chest, feeling completely exhausted and scared, she studied Jemma.

Maybe she really was nice.

Hope flared in Skye's chest, burning away some of the effects of the drugs and making her sit up a little bit more.

"What's your name?" Jemma sat on the lab floor. Skye stared at her. She had never ever seen a scientist sit on the ground.

"Skye," she whispered, wondering if it was okay to be talking to the young woman. Would May be okay with that? "I need to go back to May and Phil," Skye whispered.

"Hmm May and Phil sound like super important people. Don't worry Skye, we'll get you there in no time!" Jemma flashed a bright smile and Skye instantly felt a little better.

"Simmons. What have you done?"

This voice sounded funny too but in a different way. Skye looked up to see a curly blond young man hurriedly closing the door and locking it.

"It isn't the time for this yet!" The young man looked slightly panicked, running a hand through his crazy hair and staring at Skye.

"I couldn't keep up the act for a moment longer, Fitz. They're treating this girl like… like some _animal_ to be experimented on. She's so scared, I couldn't." Jemma was standing to face the man.

"Damn it Jemma. We're still in the basement of a freaking _Hydra_ lab. You are going to blow this whole scatterbrained impulsive…"

"Shush!" Jemma suddenly pushed Fitz into a closet, just as the door rattled and then flew open.

It was another scientist.

"Why was the door locked?" he demanded.

"It was locked?" Jemma looked surprised. "I'm sorry, I did not mean for that to happen. I must have accidentally bumped it."

The man's cruel dark eyes examined Simmons who looked back at him innocently.

Skye had been silent throughout the entire exchange, cowered back in her chair, little arms hugging herself. She was beyond confused about what was happening. She trusted Jemma the most, but didn't understand what was going on or why the young man was hiding in the closet. She knew enough not to give anything away because Jemma was the nicest anyone here had been. And she _knew_ she didn't like the scientist man. He was the one who gave shots. So she kept silent in the chair. But when the man turned his dark gaze to her, she couldn't help the tiny whimper that escaped her mouth.

"Why is the subject not restrained?"

"I was about to move her to the table and examine a couple things. I trust we have enough blood samples that I don't need to take another one?" Jemma casually stepped in front of Skye.

"We have a couple untouched blood samples. And lesson number one with interacting with the subject directly: _never_ leave it unrestrained."

The man grabbed Skye's arms and yanked them forward, pinching the cuffs around them once again. Skye flinched violently at his touch.

"Remarkable that it looks so much like a human."  
Dr. Simmons' voice was different now; it was hard and apathetic. Skye shrank back a little.

"Indeed. Dr. Peters wants those diagnostics run as soon as possible."

"Of course. I'm just going to run a couple physical tests then get to that. Will you send the lab assistant to take back the girl in about fifteen minutes?"

"Alright."

The man left and Dr. Simmons pulled the young man out of the closet.

"We are in way over our heads, Jemma," Fitz whispered. "One wrong move and we're _dead_."

"We don't have a choice," Jemma shook her head, although her face was rather pale, as though she had just realized what they were up against. Fitz looked at Skye and his face softened.

"I know. I better get out of here before someone realizes I'm not in the tech department."

He gave Skye a gentle smile, Simmons a meaningful look, and left.

Jemma knelt before Skye.

"Skye, listen to me very carefully. I can't let any of these bad people know that I want to help you or they will take me away. I might seem mean sometimes but it's because I'm pretending. We're going to get you out of here."

Skye nodded but she was still scared. Fitz had told Jemma they were in over their heads. That scientist man had almost walked in on them- they could have been found out! Jemma and Fitz were nice and she didn't want the really mean people to hurt them.

Because if she had learned anything from her past time in the lab, Skye knew these people were capable of horrible horrible things.

* * *

_**Sorry about the randomness and I hope this was okay. We'll get more into what the heck is going on in the next chapter!**_

_**And there will be Phil and May of course!**_


	14. Gathering

_**Hello friends, here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy and sorry it's so late. I've been working and traveling... makes it hard to write. I'll be home for awhile now though so hopefully I can update ya'll more regularly!  
**__**I don't own Agents of Shield.**_

_**Also I always forget if shield is spelled sheild or shield. It's a problem.**_

* * *

Coulson paused to glance over the broken shards of a ceramic vase, lifting his gaze to see a dark clothed figure hunched over a desk.

"Ready to go?" Coulson asked.

May jumped, whirling around. Her dark eyes were wild with anger. However, seeing it was Coulson, she relaxed slightly.

"Fury won't let me into his office," she growled.

"I can't say I blame him." Coulson's lips twitched.

They were silent for a moment.

"You have a plan?" May asked, crossing her arms.

"Yes. Well sort of. If it doesn't go wrong, we can get Skye and shut down Hydra."  
"And if it goes wrong?" May's face was hard.

"Then we will probably die and Hydra might escape once again. Either way we're going to loose our jobs."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Let's go then."

May grabbed her black leather jacket and the two agents headed out the door.

Five hours later they were three states away in a beaten up minivan.

Phil gave up counting the traffic violations after the 38th stop sign they mowed through.

They took back roads, avoiding busy streets and populated areas. Not only were they trying to stay under the radar to avoid alerting Hydra that they were coming, but also they had to hide from SHIELD.

"Any reinforcements we can call on?" May's hands were tight on the steering wheel.

"I've contacted Hunter and Trip. They're the only ones I'm sure are loyal to me."

"And if they aren't?"

"Then we're screwed," Coulson continued looking through the digital outline of the building they suspected was Hydra's base.

"That seems to be the possible outcome of a lot of ifs," May remarked dryly.

"Mmm," Coulson murmured noncommittally. "How many guns do you have on you?"

"Seven." May floored the gas pedal as they turned onto a dirt road, gravel flying everywhere. "But I have three more in the car that I can take."  
"I don't even want to know where you're hiding those things," Coulson shook his head, choosing to focus on the blue prints and desperately trying to assemble a plan.

His cellphone beeped.

"Hunter and Trip are on their way. Hunter is having Bobbi feed him intel from SHIELD. So far they think we've followed orders and fallen back."  
"Good. Can we trust Bobbi?"

"At this point we don't have a choice." Phil narrowed his eyes. "And I think I have the beginning of a plan."

"And our chances of surviving your plan?"  
"Remains to be seen." Coulson grabbed a new piece of paper and a pen. "We're going to do this the old school way."

* * *

Skye was running for her life. Somewhere behind her was a scientist, roaring. Jemma tried to reach her but was hit by someone with a gun. Skye screamed.

And then she suddenly caught sight of a lithe black haired woman.

"May!" Skye tried to run to her, but suddenly metal was tightening around her wrists, holding her back.

A scientist stabbed May with a needle and Skye continued to scream and thrash against the metal restraints holding her back as she watched May slowly sink to the ground, eyes glazing over.

"Mommy! Mommy!"

She screamed until she had no voice left.

**AOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOSAOS**

* * *

"We are honestly going to die, do you realize that Jemma?!" Fitz hissed.

"What could I do, Fitz? They're experimenting on a little girl!"

"I don't just mean the girl, I mean this whole crazy endeavor of joining a shady organization to discover what they were doing, and then realizing we're on a freaking evil villain base."

"You always said you wanted adventure," Jemma said slightly sheepishly. They were in one of the labs, a small electric transmitter set up to warn them if anyone was approaching and the cameras were being fed an feed of an empty room.

"I didn't mean an adventure that would get us killed," Fitz grumbled.

"I'm sorry." Jemma said quietly. "I never meant for us to get so deeply entrenched…"  
"It's not like I would have let you do it alone. And I know that once you have your mind set to something..."

"So what do we do? You can't keep helping them with tech and goodness knows I cannot allow them to hurt Skye any more than they already have."

"Maybe it's time to reach out for help."

Suddenly the video monitor they had set up to watch Skye began making noise.

The two teenagers turned to watch as Skye began to thrash around on her cot, whimpering.

Jemma's heart broke as she heard Skye begin calling out for her mommy.

"We find Skye's parents, these Phil and May she keeps talking about."

They exchanged a look. Hopefully they all could hold on long enough to get the Skye out.

"Alright, May and Phil whoever you are, let's hope you're easy to find," Fitz pulled out his laptop and began typing away.

* * *

"I want you all to know that you don't have to be here. This is your chance to walk away. This mission is going to most likely end our careers in SHIELD, and possibly our lives. I have loved SHIELD. It was my home, my family." Coulson looked at the gathering of agents they had assembled a couple miles out from the HYDRA base. He could call each of them his closest friends; Trip, Hunter, Bobbi… "But now that they have decided to put aside what is right, I cannot follow in that course of action. However, this is my choice, not yours. You must follow your own conviction." He met May's eyes and she nodded slightly.

"I fight for my family," May said quietly, her voice firm. "We are Skye's family and I will not abandon her."

The room was silent for a moment as May's words sunk in.

"This is not something I would do…" Bobbi spoke up, beautiful face serious. "…without great conviction. If Skye were an agent, I would not be making this call. However this is an innocent girl, a civilian child. We have no reason to believe that moving against HYDRA at this time to save her would cause mass destruction for other civilians. In addition…." Bobbi hesitated. "I found out from Gonzales that there is a decision that if they do eventually regain Skye, she is to be delivered to the science department. I tried to argue with them, but they wouldn't budge. They're acting out of fear."

"I agree with Bob," Hunter nodded. "Two weeks ago we didn't even know Hydra was still around, now we find out they are and everybody is running around like the bloody sky is falling. I'd rather follow someone who isn't scared to stand up for what is right, even if it gets us killed. Besides, you know I'm not loyal to any organization." Hunter leaned back in his chair, looking nonchalant, but Coulson heard the silent _I'm only loyal to you_ in his statement.

"Thank you Bobbi, Hunter," Coulson nodded to them, eyes conveying his deep gratefulness.

"Although I would like to not die," Hunter added.

"Noted," Coulson's lips twitched in a smile. His gaze then landed on Tripp, who had been silent so far.

"You're a good man, Coulson," Tripp said with a half smile. "Kinda crazy, but good. And I only follow good men. Even if they do crazy as shit things. Like this."

Coulson grinned. "Thank you all. Let's get Skye and try not to die."

"Bloody hell, please tell me there's more of a plan than that."

"We're working on it."

"Somebody get me a beer… ouch! Bob!"

Coulson chuckled and absentmindedly checked his phone which had beeped.

There was one unread message, to his civilian cover email account. He was about to delete it when the word _Skye_ jumped off the screen at him.

**IF YOU KNOW SKYE PLEASE RESPOND IMMEDIATELY**

Coulson's eyes widened as he opened the email.

* * *

_**Let me know what you think! I'm having fun with adding some extra characters in :)**_


	15. In the Darkness

_**Are you prepared for feels? **_

_**Sorry if this chapter is a bit scattered. I had a busy couple of days.**_

_**Thanks for being awesome reviewers and followers. You da best.**_

_**Disclaimer, don't own stuff.**_

* * *

**How can I trust you?**

Fits stared at the screen of his phone, which was plugged into a device of his own design, which prevent interception or tracking.

"I think we found Phil," he murmured, attempting to trace the email and get a location. However he quickly found that that information was blocked from an outside source.

"You did?" Simmons slipped into their lab room, straightening her white lab coat. "Well that's the best news I've heard in a long time!"

"He doesn't know if he can trust us," Fitz showed her the screen, watching Jemma's face fall.

"I don't know how we can prove to him we aren't setting a trap if we try to help," she mused, biting her lip.

Just then Jemma's phone buzzed.

"It seems I'm being summoned," she smiled nervously, heading to the door, carefully pulling her silky brown hair into a ponytail.

"Jemma." Fitz stopped her right as she was going out the door. She turned, large brown eyes curious.

"Be… be careful." Fitz's voice was steady and serious. Their eyes met as they both realized the dangerous narrow path they were walking.

"You too," Simmons nodded briskly, gave a tremulous smile and left.

* * *

ooooooooooo

Skye woke up trembling, vision hazy, stomach sick, and mind reeling from her nightmares. Different things hurt, mostly where they had poked her, but her stomach was turning as well and her head was pounding against her skull like a drum. For a while Skye just laid in bed, trying to breathe. She made up a story in her head. She was back in her blue bedroom with the blue flowered covers and Elsa was lying right next to her, and Anna was right on the other side. Any minute Phil would be coming into her room to tickle her awake and May would rescue her and carry her on her hip down the stairs to eat breakfast.

She could see it so vividly; even could feel May's strong arms around her, protecting her from all harm.

But when Skye's eyes slid open, she was alone without May and Phil, she didn't have her dolls, and the room wasn't blue.

It was white and she hated the color.

The door to her room slid open and suddenly someone was pulling her onto her feet. She almost wasn't able to stand, but they were apparently expecting that because the lab assistant helped her into a wheelchair.

"Please, no more needles," Skye's voice was hoarse as she tried to turn around and talk to the lab assistant. "Please. They make me feel sick."

Maybe if she just told them how she was feeling they would stop. She didn't think there were nice people in the world after her last time here but then she met Phil and May.

Jemma and Fitz were nice.

Skye wished desperately for Jemma as the lab assistant ignored her, continuing to wheel her down the hall to the lab, a path Skye had quickly memorized.

The door opened and Skye's heart leapt as she saw Jemma standing in the lab. She knew she had to keep their friendship a secret or Jemma might get hurt, so she quickly stared down at her bare feet, examining her toes.

"Thank you Walker," Jemma's crisp voice rang out and the lab assistant left.  
As soon as the door closed, Skye felt Jemma's hand on her cheek, cupping her face.

"How are you sweetheart?" Jemma whispered.

"I'm okay," Skye tried to be brave. Jemma began to smooth her tangled hair and it felt good. It reminded her of when May would brush her hair. Her heart ached at the thought of May and she thought it would burst. She wanted her parents so bad.

"Does anything hurt?" Jemma quickly looked Skye over, eyes filled with concern. "Did they do anything while I wasn't there?"

"More needles. My head and stomach hurt," Skye's lip trembled ever so slightly.

"Let me get you something for the pain."

Skye obediently took the medicine.

"It's going to make you sleepy, ok? Maybe some sleep will help." Jemma rubbed her back.

"Jemma." Skye's eyes were already drooping. "I want to go home. I really want to go home."

Simmons watched as the tiny little girl's dull eyes fell shut, weary body succumbing to sleep. She could only hope she had done the best thing for the little girl by giving her some sedatives. Nothing strong or harmful, just enough to protect Skye from the pain and trauma she was going through.

Her heart ached as she stroked the sleeping girl's hair, which was completely tangled from lack of care.

"Skye, I'm going to get you out of here, I promise." Jemma bit her lip.

The sound of the door opening made her shoot straight up and pretend like she was looking through a chart.

It was Dr. Peters and her eyes were burning with an excitement that made Simmons extremely nervous.

"We're ready to try it on her."

"Excuse me?" Simmons' eyes widened.  
"The serum. It's ready. At least we hope so."  
"Ma'am, but if we mess this up and loose the subject… I'd rather we complete more tests and…"  
"We found another one," Dr. Peters' lips curled up into a cruel smile. "We have another inhuman, we're working on capturing him as I speak, so we can go ahead with Subject 78. Your work looks good. I'm feeling optimistic about this time." The scientist's hard blue eyes glittered with excitement. "And if we fail, we have another subject."

Dr. Peters' held out a syringe, slightly blue solution sloshing around in it.

Jemma stared at the needle, eyes darting back to Dr. Peter's hard blue ones. She saw the cruel smile on the woman's face and suddenly realized that the doctor knew. She had been discovered.

She took the syringe with a shaky hand, looking up at the sound of a gun being cocked.

"Do it Dr. Simmons."

There was a perverse joy in the scientist's eyes and Jemma knew she was enjoying forcing her to inject the serum into Skye.

Simmons' eyes flitted to the unconscious girl, to the bruises on her arms that various needles had left, to the drying tears on her cheeks. Then she looked at the barrel of the gun pointing at her.

"Alright."  
She took a step towards Skye then suddenly lunged at Dr. Peters, sinking the needle into her thigh. A shot rang out and Simmons was thrown back, fire burning in her left shoulder.

Dr. Peters face drained of color and she fell silently to the ground.

Jemma managed to pick herself up and grabbed Skye with her good arm, the unconscious child thankfully light.

"I am so sorry," Jemma paused by Dr. Peters who was convulsing on the floor, her eyes beginning to turn red, then slipped out of the room.

Nobody had noticed yet that anything was awry, but the bloodstained lab coat and unconscious child in her arms was going to make Simmons a dead giveaway.

She almost made it to the stairs without detection.

"Ma'am, are you alright?"

"Yes!" Jemma didn't even stop at the voice from behind, but instead sped up. "I'm taking this girl to the medical wing."

"Come back. I want to see ID."

"This is really a life or death situation, sir, so excuse me for this."

With that, she took off running, ignoring the shouts from behind.

"Freeze."

Jemma almost ran straight into the gun.

Skye stirred slightly on her shoulder and she was filled with sudden rage.

"Can't you see what you're doing? You're going to kill an innocent child! Don't you have any children or brothers or sisters or _somebody_ you love?!" Jemma's eyes were wide with rage.

The man faltered, brown eyes filled with doubt.

"You're surrounded!"

Jemma spun around to find that three guards were running at her from the other end of the hall.

"Please," Jemma pleaded, a tear escaping from her eye. "You can't just allow children to be killed. _Please_." She wouldn't beg for her own life but she bloody well would do anything she could to get Skye out of this alive.

"I'm sorry," the brown eyed guard shook his head. "I'm so sorry." He raised his gun.

Guards were coming in from all sides.

Jemma clutched Skye to her chest, cradling the small girl close, ignoring the blood and pain coming from her left had never wanted it to end this way.

She was just preparing for the worst when lights went out.

Shouts rang out as they were plunged into complete darkness.

Before she could even react, a hand was covering her mouth.

"It's me. Just don't speak, we don't want them to be able to locate us by sound and shoot." Fitz's voice whispered in her ear.

Jemma could have fainted from relief.

Skye's weight was lifted from her and suddenly she was being pulled through the darkness, clinging to Fitz's hand, hoping desperately he somehow knew where he was going even though she couldn't see a damn thing.

Shouts faded into the distance and suddenly Fitz turned a corner and stopped. He closed a door and suddenly light beamed into the room from a flashlight. Simmons stared at Fitz and his strange huge glasses, stared at Skye, stared at the flashlight, still in shock.

"Is she okay?" Fitz gently put Skye down, taking her pulse. They were in their hideout, tucked away in the abandoned part of the science wing.

"Just a sedative..." Jemma gasped, heart pounding against her chest so hard she was worried it might break out through her ribs and jump onto the floor. "How did you… In the dark…"

"Spotted you on the cameras and happened to be near a main fuse. I blew it up then put these on to get you." Fitz tapped his glasses. "I can see in the dark, I designed them to… Jemma! Your shoulder!"

He was at her side in an instance, forcing her to sit down, grabbing random medical supplies with shaking hands.

"Oh god, Jemma, Jemma answer me."

"I'm okay Fitz, just needed to catch my breath." Jemma gave a weak smile.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Hand me those bandages and the disinfectant. And turn off the light, we don't want to give away where we are."  
"We need to treat that wound."

"That's what I'm doing. Now turn off the light, I can do it in the dark. I didn't get PhDs for no reason you know."

"They never mentioned treating bullet wounds in the dark as a requirement otherwise I'm sure I wouldn't have any," Fitz said dryly, but turned off the light after quickly checking on Skye and bringing her closer to them, settling a package of gauze under her head as a pillow.

For a moment they just sat in the darkness, listening to the distant shouts.  
"What do we do when they get the lights back on?" Jemma asked quietly.

"I don't know."

In the darkness, Fitz took Jemma's hand and held it tightly.

* * *

**_Uh oh. What is going to happen?_**

**_Also I hope you all don't mind Jemma drugging Skye. I think she would believe that taking Skye out of consciousness (but not harming her!) was the merciful thing to do in the situation._**


	16. Hide and Seek

_**Sorry for the wait friends. What can I say, life is crazy even in the summer! **_

_**I'm hoping to give you all a quick update this time though! I'm having a good time writing these parts :)**_

**_I don't own stuff. _**

* * *

"When we get there, we're going to need you to disable the fan long enough for us to get through without sending the blockage signal, Lance."

Coulson surveyed the glow of light that he knew was the end of the tunnel.

"You got it, Philly."

"Call me that one more time and I'll shoot you."

"Copy that." Lance grinned, moving forward toward the fan, and Bobbie rolled her eyes.

Suddenly there was a loud bang, the light at the end of the tunnel went out, and the fan stopped spinning.

"What the bloody hell…." Lance was pushing them all through the fan before they could react.

"Did you do that Lance?!" Coulson turned on the young man. "We can't have them know we're here!"

"No sir, that was not us." The young man's face was uncharacteristically serious.

"Tripp?"

"Sir, it appears the fuse of the science wing was blown, from the inside."

Tripp's voice was worried in Coulson's ear.

"Did you all hear that?" he asked his team.

They were crouched in a ventilation tunnel in complete darkness.

"We all have Tripp in our ear," Bobbi reminded him.

"From the inside?" Coulson confirmed.

"Yes sir."

"Any idea what caused the blow?" Coulson touched his ear.

"No idea, sir."

"The emailer…" Coulson mumbled, feeling May shift beside him. He found his hand in the darkness and she squeezed it slightly.

"Alright, we'll proceed with caution," Coulson decided, his eyes turning to where he knew the tunnel exited- now hidden in darkness- right into the science wing. "This could distract from our presence. And we got through the fan."

"This could be an unexpected blessing," Bobbi commented.

"Exactly," Coulson smiled, pleased with her optimism.

"Or it could be the reason we all die," Bobbi continued.

Coulson's face fell slightly in the dark.

* * *

"We have to try to get out of here." Fitz broke the heavy silence in the abandoned laboratory room. "I did some pretty serious damage to the wiring but it's only a matter of time…"

Jemma leaned heavily against the wall, allowing her exhaustion to wash over her for a moment. Even the simple movement caused spikes of pain to shoot out from her shoulder, only slightly muted by the drugs she had given herself. After all, she didn't want to use anything too strong. She had to be alert.

"Come on, Jemma," Fitz was suddenly crouched beside her. "We've got to try."

"It feels safer here." The initial courage had faded slightly as the pain set in and Jemma very much did not want to move.

"They'll find us here eventually."

Jemma knew he was right. But that didn't mean she wanted to stand up.

Her eyes travelled to Skye, resting on the tiny girl crumpled on the ground.

They were sitting ducks in this room. But outside they were just as likely to run into someone. Skye would be injected with the serum, which would most likely cause a torturous death. They would be killed.

A sob caught in her throat but she couldn't let a sound come out, afraid that once the tears began she would be unable to stop.

"Hey." Fitz grabbed her hand, forcing her to look into his blue eyes. "We're going to be okay. Come on, it will be an adventure."

She held his eye contact for a bit, almost overwhelmed by the care she found there. Finally she tore her eyes away.

"Yes. Yes of course." Jemma tucked her hair behind her ear and took his offered hand. "What's the plan?"

"Don't die," Fitz was stuffing things into his bag.

"That plan could use some work," Simmons observed.

"Yeah well, work in progress." He handed her a gun and she took it uncertainly. "Relax, it only stuns."

"Oh." Jemma gripped the weapon more tightly.

"Jemma?"

The two young adults turned around to find Skye sitting up, her brown eyes confused and clouded.

"Hey sweetie," Jemma quickly moved to soothe the tiny girl.

"You're hurt," Skye's eyes widened and Simmons glanced at the stained bandage on her shoulder.

"I will be alright, what matters is getting you to safety."

"Mommy and Daddy," Skye murmured.

Simmons thought to the fruitless emails they had sent to find Skye's parents for help.

"Yes. Do you think you can stand up?"

"My body is tired," Skye frowned. She pulled herself onto her feet, swayed precariously for a moment then collapsed back down, Simmons catching her before she hit the floor.

"Her body has gone through too much trauma," Jemma murmured.

"I'll carry her." Fitz appeared with countless gadgets strapped all over. He gave Skye a kind smile. "You okay with that, Skye?"

She stared up at him for a moment then nodded. He lifted the little girl up, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

There was something about the way she held onto him, the way her skinny limbs clung, the way he could feel her warmth and weight that suddenly filled his chest with determination.

He would not let any more pain happen to this child.  
"Think you can keep an eye out behind us?" Fitz asked her, as her head was looking over his shoulder. He felt her nod. He turned to Simmons and caught her gaze. She grabbed his hand for a moment and squeezed it before quickly dropping it.

"Excellent. Alright, out we go then."

They got about five feet before they ran into the first Hydra soldier.

Jemma stifled a scream as Fitz shot him with the stun gun faster than she thought possible. Skye whimpered.

"Come on." Fitz adjusted his night glasses which gave him a clear advantage.

Gulping she followed cautiously as they crept up to a corner and Fitz carefully peered around it, holding Skye's tiny form tightly.

"Clear."  
They began creeping down that dark hall when a burst of gunfire behind them bounced off the walls around them.  
"Run!" Fitz grabbed her good hand, pulling her forward. Jemma tried to force herself onward despite the pain in her shoulder and varying waves of dizziness. She focused on Fitz's hand in hers and tried to follow it best she could.

A bullet whizzed by her leg, so close she could feel it.

She heard Fitz inhale sharply and he slowed down slightly before speeding up again.

"Here!" Fitz pushed her into a random room and slid in behind her, hiding behind the slightly ajar door. They held their breath as footsteps approached the door. There was more than one person, the men talking in low voices to each other.

Skye burrowed here face in Fitz's chest. He quietly moved his stun gun to a more convenient location, knowing that it wouldn't really matter against several guns.

"You check down the hall, I'll check the rooms. We'll get those bitches."

A pair of footsteps moved closer to their door.

Suddenly there was whizzing noise and a soft thud.

"You alright?" a female voice asked quietly outside the door. The footsteps began to move away from the door. Fitz relaxed slightly. They might just make it. He didn't know why someone had killed the guard looking for them but he didn't really care. They just needed to get out.

"Just a scrape." Another female voice, slightly lower, answered.

At the second voice, Skye jerked up. Before Fitz or Simmons could stop her, she was scampering into the hall on unsteady legs.

"Skye!" Jemma's voice was shrill with fear. "Skye no!"

The two women dressed in black turned around, raising their guns.

Then the Asian woman dropped her gun and ran towards Skye, wrapping the girl up in her arms, rocking her back and forth.

"Mommy," Skye sobbed, burrowing her face in woman's shoulder.

Meanwhile the other person, a beautiful blonde young woman, raised her gun and pointed it straight at Jemma, fury burning in her blue eyes.

* * *

_** I promise I won't leave you all hanging for too long!**_

_**Yay for Skye and May finally being reunited!**_

_**Thanks for continuing to stick with this story :)**_


	17. Roaming the Halls

_**Sorry if it's confusing! I wanted to have some of it from Skye's perspective and she's kinda having a rough day. She'll be okay though, I promise!**_

_**Thank you my beautiful reviewers. You are amazing. *blows kisses* This nice long update is for all of you.  
Hey look at that! An update like 2 days after the last one! What can I say, being back home is nice. **_

**_I don't own AoS. If I did, we wouldn't have to wait so freaking long between seasons._**

* * *

"Coulson, where the hell…"

"Hi Fury," Phil's voice was chipper. "Just wanted to let you know that I'm in the Hydra base."

The stream of swear words was so loud that Coulson could practically feel the phone vibrate in his hand as he held it slightly away from his ear.

"I've turned on the tracking ability on my phone, you can find us here."

Coulson pushed the end button on the call, tucking it into his pocket.

"Back up is on its way," he informed Hunter, who looked fairly impressed in the faint flickering light.

"That's one hell of a way to call for back up."

"I know they'll get here as fast as they can. It is Hydra," Coulson shrugged. "We just have to be gone with Skye before they get here."

It sounded so simple saying it like that. So safe. As if Skye was just sitting somewhere waiting for him to pick her up. Not hurt or drugged. His mind shut down possibilities before he could roam into the realm of thought of being too late.

May and Bobbi would find Skye and him and Hunter would hunt Garret down and hopefully secure him for SHIELD.  
Coulson was not going to let that man get away with what he did to all of them. Then they would slip out before SHIELD came and took Skye into custody. This was all assuming they didn't die.

As much as he hated surprises, the black out was helping them. It was dangerous to run with it, unsure what had caused it and who they were dealing with but Coulson was an optimist by choice.

"Now on to Garret," he murmured.

"Where is that son of a bitch," Lance breathed as they crept through the dark hall.

"Knowing Garret, he will be right around the corner," Coulson murmured.

They ran into a scientist and Lance shot the man in the leg.

"Where's Garret?" he demanded, grabbing the man's white lab coat.

"I-I- don-n't kn-n-now," the man trembled, face almost as white as his clothes.

Lance let him go, bringing his gun down on the man's head, sending him into unconsciousness, and they continued down the hall

"This is more fun than Berlin," the Englishman commented.

"Yeah well most everything is more fun than being dragged around with a bullet in your gut," Coulson commented dryly. "Berlin wasn't much fun for me either. I got your blood on my favorite tie."

"You really love her." Hunter commented. Phil looked up at him. "Skye, I mean. You loved SHIELD. And you gave it all up."

"She changed something inside of me," Coulson said simply. "I believe someone said once that families are the compass that guides us. SHIELD used to be my family, but not anymore. My compass has changed and is pointing me in a new direction."

"What are you going to do when you get her back?" Hunter was uncharacteristically serious.

"I don't really know." Coulson gave him a small smile. "Hope that Fury stops being a dickhead I guess."

They ran into a group of three soldiers escorting a scientist and quickly disarmed them all and rendered the soldiers unconscious.

"Where is Garret?" Lance growled, holding a knife to the scientist's neck.

The blonde woman gulped, eyes closing for a moment.

"Please, I'm just a laboratory assistant…"

"We'll take this," Coulson grabbed the communication device strapped to her side. He took a deep breath and raised it to his mouth. "Garret. This is Phil. We have a score to settle. Do you copy?"

There was silence.

Then the radio static filled the air and Garret's voice radiated out.

"Hello Phil. Yes, I copy. Don't worry, I'll find you. Over."

Coulson's mouth set into a grim line.

"Time to play cat and mouse."

"Are we the cat or the mouse?" Hunter wondered, following him.

Phil didn't answer.

"I hope we're the mouse, those buggers are always getting free cheese. And they get to sing with bloody Cinderella…."

* * *

Jemma stared at the gun pointed at her, eyes wide, when suddenly Fitz was shoving her behind him, putting his body between her and the gun.

"No! Don't hurt them, they're my friends!" Skye's voice was scared. The Asian woman was swiftly checking Skye over for injuries, dark eyes burning with fury as she examined the bruises left from the different needles.

"She's a scientist," the blonde woman raised her gun again at Simmons and the Asian woman's dark eyes hardened with anger.

"Mommy, no!" Skye suddenly wiggled free of the Asian woman's embraced and clung to Jemma, exhausted body trembling.

Something in the Asian woman's eyes changed but she still stepped forward and took Skye back into her arms, the tiny girl barely conscious.

"Bobbi, lower your gun." Her voice was low.

The blonde woman was hesitant.

"They could be tricking us."

"The girl is injured."  
They obviously didn't look like a threat. Rather, they looked like two rather pathetic beaten up teenagers. Which was what they were.

The woman slowly lowered her gun.

"What was Skye injected with?"

"Mostly sedatives…" Simmons listed off the different things she knew they had tested on Skye. She was scared that the woman would kill her by the look of pure disgust and fury in her eyes. "She's not in critical condition but I would advise medical treatment and working on a detox as soon as possible. Her body is not big enough to keep up with a lot of those drugs."

"If we find out any of this was your doing, you will regret every drop of poison you put in her body."

The dark haired woman gave them the most even stare Jemma had ever seen and she knew that she would follow through on her threat.

The blonde woman examined them suspiciously with her large blue eyes but seemed to accept the fact she couldn't shoot them.

"I'm Bobbi and this is May. Stick with us if you don't want to die."

She hoisted her gun back up and began walking down the hall, May following closely with Skye in her arms.

Fitz and Simmons shared a quick glance before hurrying after the two women.

* * *

Skye clung to May, eyes drooping with exhaustion. They were running through the dark, and Fitz and Jemma were coming with them, which made her happy. She had been really scared Jemma would get hurt more by the blonde woman with the gun but she had known her mommy wouldn't let that happen because Skye had told her those were her friends.

None of that mattered right now anyways. All that mattered was that May was holding her and even though they were still in this awful place that she hated and even though her body hurt and even though it was dark and she wanted Elsa and her own bed, she _finally_ felt safe. Because May had her and she knew she wasn't ever ever going to let go.

She burrowed her face into May's neck, taking in the calming familiar scent. One of May's rough hands softly stroked her hair, despite the shouting and screaming that suddenly arose around them. She felt May running, twisting, kicking but she only focused on the smell of her shampoo and the way one hand continued to hold her firmly.

She felt wetness begin dripping down on her hair but ignored it.

"You okay, love?" May's voice was low and soothing, just for her Skye knew. "We just ran into some bad guys, but we took care of it and they aren't going to hurt us. We're making our way to a plane that will take us to safety. Does that sound ok?"

Skye wanted to say that it sounded great, that she didn't care where she went as long as May never put her down but suddenly the nausea she had been avoiding overwhelmed her.

There wasn't much for her body to throw up, but what little food she had eaten recently her body violently expelled. May was rubbing her back as she gasped for breath, smoothing her hair away from her sweaty forehead.

"There's blood." It was Jemma's lilting voice. "We need to get her to a medical facility as soon as possible. Skye, sweetie, can you open your eyes for me?"

Skye pried her eyes open to find that Jemma was leaning over her as May cradled her in her lap. She looked up at May's face and was alarmed to find that May was bleeding from a gash above her eyebrow.

"There's one on the plane, but we don't have a doctor," May was looking at Jemma.

Skye wasn't sure if she was seeing things because she was feeling sick or not, but May looked _frightened_.

"It's going to be ok, Mommy," Skye touched May's cheek, concerned.

"I'm not strictly a doctor but I have a fair amount of training," Jemma said. May must have made some sort of doubtful face because Jemma quickly said "I know I look young but I am not lying about the training. I am fairly sufficient in medical treatment."

"May, we've got a clear shot to the plane."

"Alright, let's go." Skye closed her eyes as May lifted her back up. "We're almost there, Skye."

"Wait!" Skye's eyes shot open. "Daddy, where's Daddy?!" she looked frantically around.

"He's meeting us at the plane once he's done doing what he needs to do. Don't worry. Let's just focus on getting you to feel better."

"I can't feel better until Daddy is here," Skye said stubbornly.

"I'll find him and help him, ok Skye? Then your mom can stay in the plane with you," the blonde woman leaned down to make eye contact with her.

Skye considered and then agreed. "Okay. Tell him that Elsa needs him."

"Sure thing kiddo," the woman ruffled her hair and then was gone.

"Let's go."

They were running and the screaming and yelling began again, loud bangs, but Skye just kept her eyes squeezed closed. The pain in her head and body was increasing and she was scared she was going to throw up again.

"Mommy," she groaned.

"Almost there."

"Mommy…"  
The world went fuzzy then black and Skye fell into oblivion, faintly hearing May's voice telling her to hang on.

* * *

**_Poor Skye. What sort of terrible author would do these things to her?_**

**_Reviews are my love language_**


	18. Bullets

_**Sorry it's late, it's been a crazy week! And this chapter was kinda challenging for me. I really prefer interactions (especially with Skye) to action. I tried my best, but sorry if it's a bit rushed and not my best writing. **_

_**You all are the best. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon for you all.**_

_**Thanks *virtual hug***_

* * *

"How long do you think we have?" Hunter's voice was low. Coulson glanced at him, face hidden in the darkness.

"I told May to leave with Skye without us if we take too long."

"What?!" Hunter yelped. "You didn't think about telling me that earlier?!"

"Shh."

"How do we know he hasn't left?" Hunter asked disgruntledly. It had only been a couple minutes since they radioed with Garret and they were making their way through the hall of the science wing. Both had scattered cuts and bruises here and but were relatively unharmed.

"I know Garret."

"May and Skye have reached the plane."  
Tripp's voice reported in his ear and Phil's heart leapt with joy. It didn't matter one bit that he was still in the middle of the building belonging to his enemies, being hunted down.

His little girl was safe.

"I knew it would be you that found us."

Phil spun around and found himself face to face with Garret.

"You son of a…" Hunter stepped forward, but Phil grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

About a dozen soldiers stood at attention behind Garret and he lazily paced in front of them.

"I always admired you, Phil. I may have been lying about a lot of things, but that was one thing I never faked. You have a talent for assessing a situation and knowing what the right thing to do is."

Phil was silent, blue eyes attentively tracking Garret's pacing.

"I would find that flattering but I don't take much value in compliments from traitors." Coulson's voice was hard.

"That's harsh." Garret looked genuinely hurt. "I'm not here to flatter you though. I'm here with a proposition."

"What could you possibly want from me?" Coulson's gaze was even.

"I want you to come with me. Join us. I am the commander of this entire base, and there are many others."  
"Why would I want to join a group that kills innocent people?"

"There needs to be order before there is peace. And sometimes sacrifices must be made for peace. History has shown that time and time again," Garret purred, stepping closer. "With us, you would have the power to protect the ones you love, to work on creating a better world. Isn't that all you have ever wanted?"

"Not this way." Coulson shook his head.

Hunter was staring at Garret.

"He actually believes that shit," he observed, brown eyes wide.

"Coulson and I need to have a conversation." Garret stepped closer. He raised a gun to Hunter's head.

"Go to hell," Hunter spat.

"You'll have to save me a spot down there then," Garret grinned.

"Wait!" Coulson stepped forward desperately. "You want to talk? Let's talk." He pulled out his gun and dropped it to the ground, kicking it away.

"Coulson," Hunter hissed.

"You said if I joined Hydra, I could protect the ones I care about. Prove it to me," Coulson stared at Garret.

"Coulson, what the hell…" Hunter protested, despite the gun inches away from his face.

Garret began chuckling and tucked the gun away.

"Alright old friend. Let's talk." He put an arm around Coulson's shoulder, leading him into a room.

Hunter turned to look at the dozen of soldiers staring at him. He knew that Coulson had bought him some extra time, but he had a feeling they wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he provoked them.

And then he spotted the flash of blond hair in the hall and all concerns for his own well being disappeared.

"I like your shoes. What size do those happen to be?" Hunter turned to the nearest soldier. The man gave him a confused look before looking down at his shoes. Hunter took advantage of the distraction to grab the gun out of the soldier's hand, putting a bullet in him before using his body as a shield as the other soldiers began shooting. He made it to a metal table, which he flipped and dove behind.

He shot back, taking down a few.

He was still cornered behind the table when his gun clicked, signaling it was out of ammunition.

The temporary fortification wasn't going to last long. But he had to stop the soldiers from getting to Coulson.

"Shit." Hunter swore as a bullet tore through the table he was hiding behind. He arched in pain as a sudden pain ripped through his left leg.

He was cornered.

But Hunter wasn't one to give up. He grabbed a nearby chair and hoisted himself onto his feet, bashing the nearest soldier, yanking his gun out of his hands. He rolled to the floor as shots rang out, making his way to the next table, intending to use it for shelter.

However, his leg gave out before he could make it behind the structure, and he faintly noticed the trail of blood along the floor.  
A gun was once again pressed to his forehead.

And then the soldier toppled forward onto him.

"Can't even hold your own against a couple mercenaries?"

Bobbi's face was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and not just because he had thought for a moment he would never see anything again.

"A couple?" Hunter grinned, allowing her to help him up. "I think I took out the majority of them, sweetheart."

"Like hell you did." Bobbi's smile fell off her face as she suddenly noticed the large dark blood stain spreading down Hunter's left pant leg. "Shit Lance." She was already pulling off her shirt and wrapping it tightly around his leg, leaving her in a black tank top. "Sit." She pushed him down. "Where's Coulson?"

"Why do you have to be so bossy all the time?" Hunter complained. Bobbi looked like she was about to slap him so he relented. "He's in that room with Garrett."

Bobbi handed him a gun.

"Think you can guard the entrance while I grab him?"

He took the gun with a nod. Bobbi hesitated, blue eyes looking him over critically, landing on his leg with the rapidly soaking shirt wrapped around it. He was touched at the small flash of fear he saw cross her face.

"I'll be fast," she promised.

"I'll be here."

* * *

Coulson watched as Garrett prowled in a circle around him, usually jolly face tainted with something more sinister.

Maybe that sinister look on his face had always been there but he had just been unable to see it before, Coulson mused.

"There are other Hydra bases."

"Many. You can have one if you want." Garret stopped walking his lazy circles and stood still.  
"So are you the leader then?" Phil raised an eyebrow.

"I know what you're thinking, Coulson. Sorry to disappoint you, but I am only a part. Only one head among many. Cut one head off …"

"Two grow back, yes I know how it goes." Coulson looked unimpressed. "Why are we still here?"

"I meant what I said, Phil. We've been through a lot together. You're a talented man. We would be honored to have you as a colleague."

"We were colleagues, Garrett, or don't you remember?" Coulson's eyes flashed.

"We both know SHIELD is deeply flawed. Or did you not come here on your own?"

Coulson was still.

"I can offer you the power to protect all those you love. To create a better world for them."

Coulson's calm broke.

"Is that what you call torturing a little girl?!"

He lunged suddenly at Garrett's gun, but the man reacted too quickly, drawing it just as Coulson's hand connected with it and the gun went flying across the room.

Garret pulled out another gun and Coulson rolled out of the way, towards the second gun. He heard waves of gunshots, but couldn't tell where they were coming from.

_Hunter_.

Shit.

He couldn't focus on the man now; he could only trust that the Englishman could take care of himself.

A bullet grazed his side just as his hand touched the metal of the gun, but he was already twisting his body and shooting back.

Garrett dropped.

"I always was a better shot." Phil painstakingly pulled himself up. He looked down at the man he had once called his friend. A drip of blood was running from Garrett's mouth, blood spreading from the hole in his stomach. "I'm sorry."

"Fuck you." Garrett breathed.

"Coulson." Bobbi was suddenly in the doorway, assessing the situation. "SHIELD is almost here."

"Skye?" Coulson froze.

"She sent me to tell you that Elsa needs you."

Phil pulled off his jacket and pressed it against Garrett's stomach.

"I'll let SHIELD do what they want with you."

Bobbi's eyes drifted to Garrett then back to Coulson. "Are you sure you don't want to just kill him?"

Coulson shook his head.

"No. I'm not sure. But SHIELD might want him for information."

"He could escape."

"Then I'll hunt him down and kill him."  
Bobbi was taken aback by the look of determination on Coulson's face.

He pulled out a device that looked somewhat like handcuffs and attacked one side to Garrett's wrist and the other to a pole.

"If you try to pick it without the electronic key, it will explode," he warned.

"You're making a mistake." Garrett was pale and shivering but the fury in his eyes was fully alive.

"No. I don't think I am." Coulson turned to Bobbi.

"Fuck you! You and that little girl are going to die! We will hunt down everyone you love and tear them apart…"

Bobbi brought the butt of her gun down on Garrett's head, watching disinterestedly as he slumped into unconsciousness.

"Sorry," she shrugged at Coulson.

"Let's go."

They left the room without looking back.

* * *

_**We'll be back with Skye soon, I promise. **_

**_Sorry about the rushed writing. Action stuff isn't my strength. _**

**_Thoughts?_**


	19. Every Last Breath

_**Hey friends :) Ready for some feels? :D**_

_**WARNING: There is a lot of language in this chapter. Aka Hunter has a bullet in his leg. I wanted it to be realistic.**_

_**If that's not your thing, go ahead and skip the beginning of the second section.**_

_**Anyways, thanks for all the support as always. You all are the best!**_

* * *

May watched as Skye's chest rose slightly and then fell again as she continued taking slow shallow breaths.

May leaned forward and stroked Skye's hair, careful not to pull on any of the tangles.

The little girl's eyes had remained closed since she had passed out in May's arms. Now, in the harsh fluorescent light, May was able to examine every little mark, every needle puncture that had been left on the five year old. But worst of all were the shadow-rimmed eyes that remained closed.

"I'm so sorry, Skye. I'm so sorry." May took one of the tiny hands in her battle ready one. A single tear slid down her cheek. "Please wake up, Skye. I need you back."

May lifted the tiny limp hand and kissed it.

"Ah, I found it!" Jemma burst into the room, holding a syringe, Fitz close behind.

"May, we got SHEILD coming down pretty soon." Tripp's voice flooded her earpiece.  
"Any sign of Coulson and the others?"

"They should be approaching."

The faint sound of gunshots caught May's attention and she quickly glanced back at Skye. Jemma, the young scientist girl, was doing something with her, while the curly haired boy took her barked commands and handed her different tools.

"She's going to be okay," Jemma looked up, catching May's gasze.

"She better be."

May strode out of the med pod and headed for the plane ramp.

"I'd say we got 2 minutes to get out of here, May, before SHEILD will have us blocked in." Tripp's voice was strained.

"Start getting the plane in the air."

_**(AN: Language coming up)**_

* * *

"Fuck your bullshit plans Coulson and your motherfu…"

Coulson shut out the rest of the stream of expletives streaming from Lance Hunter's mouth as he and Bobbi half dragged the man through the building.

"How do you get him to shut up?" he gave Bobbi a quick glance. He hadn't missed the tightness in her mouth or the way her blue eyes glanced to Hunter's leg every couple minutes, examining the blood that continued to drip down, then looking back up to her fiancé's face with a flicker of worry.

"Usually enough alcohol works."

"Doesn't sound like a bloody bad plan. Unlike telling May to leave us in a fucking Hydra base if we take too fucking long."

Coulson rolled his eyes.

"You know you don't sound more mature just because you're swearing," he informed the younger man.

"I don't give a fucking goddamn shit."

"We're almost there." Bobbi hefted more of Hunter's weight onto her frame.

"I can walk," he complained, despite the fact they had already been helping him simply remain upright for the last ten minutes.

"Shut up." Bobbi smacked him and he swore and mumbled something about blondes.

"Get down!" Phil suddenly pulled them down as bullets sped over their heads.

"Stay here!" Bobbi shoved a gun at Hunter before disappearing around a corner. Two shots rang out and Bobbi was back. "Okay let's go."

"Are you an angel?" Lance squinted at Bobbi.

"He's not in good shape. I think it's the blood loss." Bobbi turned to Coulson. "Last time he asked me that was when you dragged him out of Berlin with a bullet in his gut."

"What about that time, in Paris, when we were in bed and you had on that lace and you were…"

"Oh god, do not finish that sentence." Coulson looked more disturbed than he had during his entire encounter with Garrett.

"Where's the plane?" Bobbi put one hand over Hunter's mouth in order to prevent him from saying anything more.

There was a sudden roaring sound as an engine started.

"Right there." Coulson pointed out the window at a large black plane.

"You mean the plane that's about to f'ing take off?" Hunter slurred.

"That's the one."

Bobbi had already broken the window and they were both working on getting Hunter through it in a matter of seconds.

"You know this is because of your shitty plan…" Hunter gasped as they made their way outside. "I mean, who in their right mind formulates an escape plan without including themselves?!"

"Calm down." Coulson glanced at Hunter.

Just as they were almost to the ramp, the plane engine's roar rose and the plane began moving.

"Shit." Coulson clenched his jaw in determination. They were so close.

The ramp was still down. They could do this.

A bullet whizzed by his ear, so close he could hear the hum as it tore through the air.

"Alright, this is it!" he shouted. He exchanged a glance with Bobbi and they both poured their last bit of energy into moving Hunter forward faster.

"GO!" Bobbi screamed as they launched him forward onto the metal ramp. The injured man managed to grab hold of a grate and pulled himself forward. Bobbi in turn threw herself forward, scrambling onto the ramp.

"Coulson!" she screamed and he saw that Hunter had gone limp and Bobbi was struggling to keep the man from slipping off the ramp. She was not going to be able to help him get up onto the ramp.

With his last bit of energy, he hurled himself forward, hands catching the edge of the ramp.

One hand slipped as the plane launched forward and jumped off the ground.

He caught Bobbi's wide-eyed look of fear just as his other hand slipped.

Suddenly a hand was holding his, pulling him up.

"Coulson, what the hell were you doing? Skye needs her daddy."

He let May pull her the rest of the way up.

* * *

Coulson almost ran into the room but he stopped as soon as he got through the door.  
It suddenly became strangely hard to swallow as his eyes locked onto the tiny form in the bed.

He walked slowly forward, heart churning with so many emotions; relief, fear, pure fury at what had happened… They tore at his insides with overwhelming ferocity, making it difficult to breath.

He forced himself into a chair, blue eyes taking in the bruises and thinness of the dark haired girl. She looked so fragile, as if a gust of wind would blow her away from him forever.

"Hey sweetie, we missed you a lot." Coulson slowly took Skye's small hand between his. "Nothing was the same. I know you're going to be okay but I'm still scared. Jemma said you're okay and that's why she was able to leave you for a little bit to help Hunter. He's not doing so great, but he's touch. He'll be okay. You don't know Hunter, but you can meet him when you wake up. We'll make him clean up his language first though. I think you'll like him. And Bobbi. She's a great person. Not sure if she is a kid person but I know she'll love you. Now Tripp… You'll have him wrapped around your little finger in no time…"

He was completely rambling, filling the silence with words when all he wanted to hear was Skye's voice.

But as he continued talking, Skye's body seemed to relax and Phil wondered if she somehow knew he was there.

* * *

"Remind me who you are?" Coulson raised an eyebrow as Jemma finished explaining Hunter and Skye's condition. Both were stable. In Hunter's case, they were very lucky they had blood stocked for each team member's blood type.

Jemma had done a detox on Skye and they were just waiting for her to wake up.

"Oh, I'm Jemma Simmons," the young woman brushed a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "And this is Fitz. Leo Fitz. We… well we were attempting a rather ill conceived undercover mission." Simmons' dark eyes turned sheepishly to Fitz. "It was all me…"

"And how can we know you aren't Hydra?" Coulson got straight to the chase. "We're grateful for everything you have done for Skye and the medical help that saved two lives and you will be rewarded." His eyes drifted to Simmons' bandaged shoulder. The girl had taken a bullet for Skye. After examining and observing the pair, his gut was telling him they could trust them. But he had to have more than a gut feeling to possibly endanger his crew. "But how do we know you can be trusted?"

"Ah, sir, we're actually graduates from the SHEILD Academy. We have people who can vouch for us." The boy spoke up.

"And will they be able to vouch for you when they find out where we picked you up from?" May stepped forward.

The two young adults exchanged a worried look.

"Oh dear, I see this is a bit problematic," Simmons sighed. "I'm afraid our undercover identities are actually looking a bit too convincing.

"Do you have any record of maybe telling someone what you were doing before you went in?" Tripp suggested.

"No." Simmons looked worried.

"Yes! Yes, I did! Finch, Simmons!" Fitz turned to Simmons, his eyes lighting up. "I left a note for Professor Finch in invisible ink on your will, just in case we died, explaining everything!"

"Brilliant Fitz!" Jemma's eyes lit up and the two teenagers turned to Coulson excitedly.

"Invisible ink? On a will? Are you kidding me?"

Hunter looked like he wanted to say more but a pointed look from Coulson made him shut his mouth.

"Alright, we'll check sources and get a look at that will. For now, we'll be keeping a close eye on you both, but you are welcome to make yourself at home."

"Thank you!" Simmons practically threw her arms around Coulson. "I'm going to go check on Skye. I just want to check her levels and make sure the formula I derived is doing its work properly."

Bobbi followed her out the door.

"I don't suppose you have a tech lab?" Fitz asked. "I think I have couple improvement ideas for those night goggles. You know, in case we need to shut down the electricity in another Hydra base."

"Where the hell did these kids come from?" Hunter wondered to Coulson as Fitz left with Tripp.

* * *

_**What do you know, NO CLIFF HANGER WHOOOO**_

_**Don't worry, we still have some stuff that needs to go down. Afterall, Phil kinda went all rogue from SHEILD.**_

_**What do you think? Any thoughts on what will happen?**_


	20. On The Bus

_**Hey friends! I hope you enjoy the update :)**_

_**We are nearing the end sorta ish! :O**_

_**However, I want there to be lots of opportunities for Skye fluff with the team now that they're together for the first time. So I'm thinking about taking prompts for their time on the Bus together...**_

_**Anyways, please enjoy!**_

* * *

Everything was really heavy.

And dark.

But kinda in a nice way, like being bundled up in a warm cocoon.

Skye thought about burrowing deeper into the cocoon but something was drawing her out. First it was murmurs and then she realized someone was talking. She couldn't make out the words, but the voice was familiar. She liked that voice.

Slowly she began to make out a word here and there and became aware of somebody stroking her hair.

"…and we made up a room just for you, right by ours. We even picked up a Frozen comforter for you…"

Skye opened her eyes and light rushed at her and she quickly closed her eyes.

"Skye?"

Skye tried again, blinking several times until the face above her came into focus.

"Daddy," she smiled, voice raspy and funny sounding. She looked around. She was in a room that looked kinda like a lab, but Phil was sitting in a chair beside her and the blanket was blue, and Elsa was laying beside her.

"Skye." Phil was suddenly kissing her forehead and her cheeks and her nose, making her laugh. She struggled to sit up, wanting to put her arms around him. He came down to her level instead and she burrowed her face in his shoulder.

"Oh good! You're awake Skye! Right on schedule with my estimate." Jemma walked into the room, a huge smile on her face. Skye liked that she wasn't wearing a white lab coat anymore, instead in a nice maroon sweater. One arm was in a sling, but Jemma seemed happy.

"Hi," Skye smiled, snuggling closer to Phil.

"How are you feeling?" Jemma was looking her over, checking some machines.

"Good." Skye grabbed Elsa and brought her to her chest. "What happened?" she examined her arms and noticed they were blotchy with bruises. When had that happened? When she was in the lab? It was so blurry in her head. She mostly just remembered the overwhelming sadness and how scared she was and how things hurt, and Jemma…

The more she thought about it, the more she remembered and she didn't like that.

"Skye!"

Skye looked up to find May running to her.

"Mommy," she sighed happily as May smothered her in kisses, similarly to what Phil had done. Her eyelids were beginning to feel heavy. "Are we going home?"

"We have your things here, love, but we're not going to be able to go back to the house. This plane is going to be our home for a while. Is that okay?"

Skye considered that silently. She liked her bedroom. And the couch and kitchen and May and Phil's big comfy bed and the fuzzy carpet that she could lie on and watch Frozen.

But none of those things really mattered.  
Skye had spent all of her life being moved from one place to another, one family to the next. House after house, she had never had a home.

Being with Phil and May, she had realized what really made a place a home.

She smiled and blinked sleepily.

"As long as you're both here then I'm ok."

* * *

"She'll probably be weak for a couple days, but she was already awake longer and moving more than I expected." Jemma flipped through a couple pages. "Other than that, she's going to be perfectly fine. We'll just have to encourage her to take it easy as the last of the drugs run through her system. The worst is definitely over."

"Will they have any long term effects on her?" May spoke up, glancing over at the sleeping girl in the other room.

"I don't believe so. Although…" Jemma brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What is it?" Coulson asked worriedly, exchanging a glance with May.

"I… I found some inconsistencies in Skye's DNA when I was testing her blood, looking damage by the drugs. I don't believe it is from anything she was given, I don't see how it would be possible. It's strange, her DNA almost looks… Not quite human."

Jemma looked up at them, dark eyes troubled. "I know she was an 0-8-4."

The room was silent. "I can look further into it…" Jemma began to offer.

"No." It was May who spoke up, her eyes locked on Skye's sleeping form. "Leave it and delete all records."

"But…"

"May's right." Coulson agreed. "We want Skye to have a normal childhood from here on out. Destroy all evidence of what you found. Someday perhaps we will have to revisit this, but for now, Skye has been through enough."

Jemma hesitated.  
The young scientist's eyes landed on Skye and she gripped the data she had collected.

Part of her was yearning for answers, for data, and research, and _science_. This girl could be a scientific revolution.

And then Jemma actually _looked_ at Skye. At her bruised arms and the way her eyes fluttered slightly, long dark lashes touching her cheeks, the little face looking finally peaceful. She saw a small child. Not a scientific subject.

She quickly made a vow that she would never follow the path others had taken and lose sight of the humanity in each individual.

Jemma glanced down at her research and back up at Phil and May.

"Do you have an incinerator?" she asked hopefully.

* * *

"No, you hold it like this."

Skye was sitting on the floor of the plane, which they now referred to as the Bus. She was dressed in an Elsa dress, completing the outfit with sunglasses and skinny jeans under the dress.

Lance Hunter was sitting across the coffee table, a pink tiara on his head and fairy wings strapped to his back, struggling to hold a tiny teacup.

"There better be some bloody gin in that teapot." Hunter attempted to stick one pinky in the air but only succeeded in dropping the cup.

"Is bloody a swearword?" Skye asked, blinking her dark eyes innocently.

"No." Lance looked guilty.

"Yes." May said, walking by.

"Fu…. Fudge monkey," Hunter grumbled, pulling out his wallet and sticking a dollar in the large glass jar on the counter. It was filled with many coins and bills and had a messily written sign taped to it, spelling out "Bad Word Jar."

Every time someone swore, they had to put money into the jar. The money went to Skye's General Needs Fund. The fund had gained almost fifty dollars when Hunter and Bobbi got into a fight.

"Can you pour some tea for Elsa?" Skye asked, busying herself with eating a cookie.

"Of course." Hunter daintily poured tea into Elsa's cup before adjusting his tiara, which had begun to slip off slightly.

"Wait!" Skye's eyes widened with alarm.

"What?!" Hunter drew his stun gun and scanned the room.

"It's magical tea. You have to sing the song before Elsa can drink it!" Skye said frantically. "Quick, sing before the magic fades!"

Hunter put the gun away and cleared his throat.  
"Flower gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Heal what has been hurt. Bring back what once was mine."

"What once was mine," Skye echoed, waving a hand over the teacup.

Hunter lifted the cup to Elsa's plastic lips so she could drink. The doll seemed to smirk at him.

"Having fun?" Phil walked in, sitting beside Skye and kissing her cheek.

"Daddy!" Skye squealed, jumping into his lap.

Phil kissed the top of her head.

It had been a couple days since the rather chaotic rescue mission and Skye was doing much better physically. Emotionally, the girl was snuggly and happy, however she woke up from nightmares at least three or four times each night. She couldn't handle needles, wouldn't sleep under white sheets. They had initially had a wheelchair for Hunter because of his leg, however, after two panic attacks from Skye, they tucked it far away.

It killed Phil to see his little girl so scared all over again, but at least this time she desired their presence.

They thought maybe it would be helpful for the girl to talk about what happened but Skye, in her extremely stubborn five-year-old way refused to acknowledge that her time back in the lab had even happened. The only information they had on what had gone down there was from Jemma and Fitz.

What he had heard from them was enough to make his blood run cold.

And yet Skye acted as if her time there had never even happened. She shut down any and all questions with cuddling and talking about Elsa. She acted happy, and Phil believed she was. But deep down, the tormented look hadn't quite left his little girl's eyes.

"Nice tiara," Phil grinned at Hunter. "Alright, I hate to break this up, but we've got a meeting and Hunter needs to be there."

Skye pouted while Hunter looked fairly relieved.

"I'll send Leo to play with you," Phil promised and Skye's face brightened. "And Hunter?" Coulson turned to the man who had shed his tiara and was making a beeline for the exit. "You might want to take off the fairy wings."

* * *

"SHEILD is looking for us. They shut off all of our access to information, so I can't confirm what their plan is." Bobbi ran a hand through her hair.

All the agents were gathered in the control room. Jemma and Fitz were asked to sit out of such meetings, however by now that was more of a formality since the team generally trusted the pair. The plane had been constantly moving since picking up Skye.

Basically they were fugitives.

"I hate to say this, but we need to touch down to refuel soon." Trip spoke up. "We're also running low on supplies."

"Where are we over now?"

"Currently, over the Atlantic."

"Can we really risk a touchdown?" May's dark eyes were worried.

"I don't think we have a choice," Bobbi looked resigned. "We need fuel and supplies."

"Alright. Bobbi and Hunter, work on finding us a secure location. I'll try to look up if I have any independent contacts or people who owe me favors nearby."

"Yes sir."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Hunter muttered.

Coulson wished he could say otherwise for himself.

_**Thanks!**_

_**I always love to hear your thoughts if you have a moment to review!**_


	21. Whisper In My Ear

_**Here's a short fluffy chapter. We'll get back down to business soon I promise! **_

_**I leave the country soon but I'm hoping to get ya'll another update before we leave. We'll see.**_

**_Sorry if it's a little under par, I had to rewrite part of this scene after my computer deleted it. And I really don't like rewriting scenes- I feel like the first time captures my initial emotions. (I am not at all opposed to editing though!)_**

_**Thanks for the beautiful reviews. You all are my inspiration xoxox**_

* * *

Ironically, it was Bobbi who finally broke through Skye's "everything is okay" act.

The young woman had been slightly unsure how to interact with the little girl. She wasn't exactly around children very often. But she did want Skye to like her as she had found herself falling in love with the little dark haired girl just as everyone else on the ship had.

Sometimes she got hugs and cuddles from Skye. They had a tea party once with Hunter, who was one of Skye's preferred playmates, much to Hunter's delight and occasional slight dismay. Bobbi didn't get really silly, or fully throw herself into the imaginative worlds Skye created in the way Hunter did, but she was constantly supportive and played along as much as she felt able. She was still getting used to this whole "child" thing. It wasn't instinctive for her, but she was trying her damned best.

Bobbi knew Coulson and May were worried about the little girl and her complete avoidance of the events that had happened to her. Bobbi could see it too. It wasn't that Skye was faking her happiness; it was more that she seemed to be _forcing_ herself to feel it.

Bobbi could relate.

After being captured on a mission a couple years ago and tortured for days and days on end, she had wanted nothing more than to be _happy_ finally when she managed to fight her way home. She wanted everything that happened to be behind her. She desperately wanted to go back to her normal self, so much so that she subconsciously convinced herself that what had happened wasn't affecting her and that she was indeed happy and okay.

She wasn't okay though, not for a while. A person doesn't go through dehumanization and walk away perfectly fine.

As much as she had hated it, Bobbi had to admit that she wasn't okay before she could start to heal.

Now she saw Skye, only five years old, struggling with the same issues she had had.

It wasn't fair. Skye was a little girl. She was innocent. She never asked for any of this, never signed up for a dangerous job.

Her, Skye, and Hunter had just finished watching Frozen (for like the fiftieth time) as the rest of the crew prepared for their upcoming stop. Hunter had wandered off, probably to eat something, and Skye and Bobbi were snuggled down on the couch, feeling too cozy to move.

Bobbi stretched lazily, not noticing as the edge of her tank top rode up her stomach, revealing a large patch of scarred skin.

Skye, however, noticed.

"What's that?" she pointed, making Bobbi glance down.

Bobbi hesitated.

There was no way she was going to tell the little girl that some man had branded his name onto her body and the scar tissue was the much improved result of having it removed.

"Somebody hurt me," was the answer she settled on.

Skye looked sympathetic and reached up and stroked Bobbi's blonde hair.

"I'm sorry," she said and Bobbi felt incredibly touched that the little girl was trying to comfort her.

"It wasn't your fault Skye, but thank you." Bobbi tentatively wrapped an arm around the five year old and was pleased when the girl leaned into the touch.

"It was a bad person's fault," Skye murmured.

"That's right."

They were silent for a little bit, watching the credits of Frozen continue to roll.

"Were you scared?" Skye finally asked.

"Yes." It was so easy to admit it when it was just her and Skye.

"I didn't think you were scared of anything," Skye's eyes were wide. Bobbi chuckled.

"Everyone gets scared, Skye. It's okay."

Skye's next question was asked hesitantly.

"When you got hurt… were you scared you would never be okay, inside here?" Skye tapped her chest with a small hand.

"Hmm, what do you mean?" Bobbi was pretty sure she knew what Skye was asking, but she wanted to hear what the little girl would say.

"Like…" Skye thought hard. "Like you'd always be a little scared and sad and hurt? And not know how to make it better?"

"Ah." Bobbi nodded. "Yes, I felt like that for awhile."  
"Did it get better?"

Skye was practically glued to her side at this point.

"It did. And you know how?"

"How?" Skye looked up at her with big brown eyes that could melt any heart.

"I talked to people about what happened. I told Hunter all about it, and some of my friends and people who cared about me. And the more I talked about it, the less hurt I felt inside."

"Talking about it made it better?" Skye looked confused. "Wouldn't it be better to pretend everything is ok? Talking about it makes you hurt!"

"Hmm. Have you ever had a bad secret you had to keep? Like when you did something wrong? Or someone did something wrong to you and you're scared to tell?"

Skye considered, then nodded. She remembered telling May and Phil about how she had been forced to eat apples one time. They had helped her.

"And when you finally tell someone, then they can help you be better. It can be really hard, but it helps heal that hurt inside. You have to let people in, Skye." Bobbi kissed her forehead on some sort of instinct.

"Hmm, this looks cozy," May walked into the room, glancing at the now blank TV.

"Mommy!" Skye sat up, holding out her arms.

May picked her up, and Skye wrapped her arms and legs around the older woman.

"What were you two talking about?" May asked, kissing Skye's cheek.

"Being hurt," Skye murmured, snuggling into May's shoulder, not seeing how the woman's eyes widened slightly and quickly darted to Bobbi. "Bobbi was hurt, kinda like I was at the lab," Skye continued. "But she's alright now."

"Well I'm glad."

"You've got to talk about it, she says," Skye informed May. "To feel better."

"That sounds like wise advice," May rubbed Skye's back. "Want to talk while Tripp lands the plane? We have to go strap in now."

"Okay." Skye turned and kissed May's cheek.

"I love you," May whispered into her ear.

"I love you too," Skye whispered back. They left the room, but not before May had mouthed _thank you_ to Bobbi, who just smiled and got up to find her fiancée, maybe to whisper an "I love you" in his ear.

Maybe.

* * *

_**As always, feel free to tell me what you think!**_

_**Next chapter: The refueling stop... Everything will go just fine, right? Right?**_


	22. Landing

**_Hello friends! I am posting from Iceland! :O _**

**_Hopefully that fact will grant me forgiveness for lateness :( Which I apologize for!  
We're looking at one or two more chapters._**

**_I might do some oneshots if you have prompts once I finish this story but I haven't decided yet! What do you think?_**

* * *

"What are we going to do when we land?" Skye sat down on the seat.

"You and I are going to stay right on this plane with Trip. Bobbi and Hunter are going to leave for a little bit to get food and other supplies. Fitz and Simmons are getting some things too, since they didn't bring any extra clothes or anything. Phil is going to talk with his friend Mac and they're going to fuel the plane. Then we'll take off again."

"Can I go outside?" Skye asked as May reached for a strap.  
"It's too dangerous right now, I'm sorry." May kissed her forehead then pulled the straps down over Skye's shoulders to strap her in.

"No!" A look of pure panic and fear washed over Skye's face as she suddenly fought against the straps. "No, no, no, please, stop…" The little girl was physically shaking, squirming, usually lively brown eyes glazed over.

"Skye," May's eyes widened and reached for the five-year-old, but Skye flinched away violently, so instead she moved to crouch next to the girl. "Skye, listen to my voice. You are safe. You are with me and I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You are safe."

"Getting ready for descent." Tripp's voice filled the loudspeakers.

May carefully reached forward and touched Skye's hair. Skye's breathing began to calm and the terror turned to tears.

"Shhh, it's okay."

"Mommy," Skye sobbed, eyes finally focusing on May again and May let out a sigh of relief as she realized that Skye was aware of her again.

"It's okay." May stroked her hair as Skye burrowed her head into the older woman's silky black hair. "Alright, we need to get strapped in right now Skye, but I'm going to strap you in with me, okay? I've got you."

They moved into a seat and May carefully wrapped the strap around her and Skye, making sure it was wrapping around the little girl correctly.

"I thought I was back in that bad place," Skye whispered finally as the plane began to lower from the sky.

"Mmm." May murmured sympathetically and held her closer, hoping Skye would open up further. She was hopeful after the talk Skye and Bobbi had, the girl already mentioning the lab once or twice when earlier she had pretended it didn't exist.

"They used those things," Skye admitted. "So I couldn't get away."

"How did that make you feel?"

"Trapped."

"Skye, I am so sorry about what happened. But you are never going back there. It was wrong that you felt trapped and scared like that. You know that everyone on this plane will do everything they can to make sure that doesn't happen again, don't you? We will take care of each other and you. And it's okay to be scared. That's why we have each other."

Skye nodded.

"It's like we're a big family," Skye observed.

"Yeah?" May smiled.

"Yeah!" The mischievous glint was back in Skye's eyes and May felt lighter than she had in a long time. "You and Daddy Phil are the mommy and daddy. Then me and Tripp and Bobbi and Jemma and Fitz are your kids!" Skye grinned.

"Oh?" May raised an eyebrow. "And what about Hunter?"  
"He's the family dog," Skye said promptly with a smirk

May laughed probably the hardest she had in a couple years.

How had she changed so much? She had just talked someone through a panic attack, soothed a child, now she was laughing out loud… May could see differences in herself. Big differences.

Skye.

She was a different person because of Skye. Her heart swelled with care for the girl. She _was_ different. And she loved that. Life before Skye seemed so… so gray.

Still it was frightening to love one person so much. As an agent, May had taught herself not to hold anyone too close. And now that she had… she was never going to be the same. And if anything ever happened to Skye, May was never ever going to be okay.

May made a silent promise that she would do everything she possibly could, even at her own harm, to protect Skye. In a way, protecting Skye was protecting herself.

Skye and Phil. She had a family. Not a team of agents, not a committee, not a task force, but a family.

She pulled her attention back to Skye who was cuddled against her.

"You said you felt trapped before. How do you feel now?"

Skye considered.

"Maybe a little scared, inside. But that's okay because I feel more happy and safe on the inside than scared."

"Good."

There was a soft bump. They had landed without even noticing.

* * *

"I cannot believe you bought that."

"Just focus on the road, Jemma. We have to pick up Bobbi and Hunter and I'd rather not have them pick up us in pieces instead," Fitz's face was pale as Jemma skittered around a turn.

"I mean, we get to a shopping mall for the first time in over a year and the first thing you do is buy a stuffed animal monkey! A monkey!" She glanced over at Fitz who was holding a large stuffed money tightly, face pale, as they swerved to avoid another car.

"Are you even seeing these stop signs? Wait. Do you even have license? And the monkey is for Skye," he managed to defend himself.

Jemma made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat. "I think we both know that's not true."

"Well it is. You don't have to believe me," Fitz said stubbornly. "You'll just be jealous when Skye loves me for getting her a gift."

"I _did _get her a gift. And it's all for her, not secretly for myself."

"Jemma, you got her a Bunsen burner."

"It's an important tool, Fitz. Very scientific. It will help her learn and we can do experiments in the lab together. She will love it and have so much fun." Simmons glanced in her rear view mirror. "Ugh, please just pass me already!"

Fitz glanced back as well. It was the same black van that had been behind them for the last couple minutes.

"Speed up, I think they're following us." Fitz said tensely. "We've got to get to Bobbi and Hunter."

"Almost there."

Hunter and Bobbi barely had time to jump into the car before Jemma was flooring the breaks and they were zooming off.

"Whoa! What the hell…"  
"We're being followed." Jemma announced, face pale, cutting off Hunter.

"And Simmons can barely drive. I don't think she even has an American license. Or a license at all," Fitz finished.

Bobbi was pulling Jemma out of the front seat and taking the wheel before Fitz even finished his sentence.

Meanwhile Hunter pulled out a gun and rolled down a window.

"Whoa!" Fitz yelled. "What are you doing?!"

Hunter stuck his head out the window and began firing.  
"What if they're just lost tourists following us or something?!" Jemma shouted. "You can't just shoot at random cars!"

"Duck!" Hunter yelled, pushing the scientist down as bullets peppered the back window.

"Alright, maybe they aren't lost tourists," Jemma gasped.

"It was a nice thought though," Bobbi commented from the wheel, lips twitching upward slightly, turning the car smoothly around a corner while weaving in and out of traffic.

"Bob, they're gaining." Hunter reloaded his gun.

"Alright, everybody hold on!" Bobbi shouted, before suddenly turning the car into a tight alley.

The black car zoomed by, brakes screeching in vain as Bobbi was already onto the next street over and turning again and again and an alley here and there and…

"We lost them." Jemma sighed in relief. "Who do you think that was?"

"I'm not sure, considering we're fugitives from both SHIELD and Hydra at the moment." Bobbi frowned. "Has anyone contacted Coulson?"  
"I'm on it." Fitz pulled out a gadget.

They drove in silence.

"Neither Coulson or anyone on the plane is picking up."

"We're almost there." Bobbi and Hunter exchanged a look. "Whatever happens, stay behind us."

"Wait are you pulling out guns?" Simmons' eyes were wide.

"Just stay behind us," Hunter was uncharacteristically serious.

There was only one road to the fueling station and they drove it, waiting to get over the hill.

"Shit."

Black cars were all over the station.

Someone, maybe SHIELD, maybe Hydra, had found them.

"Oh god, they'll get Skye." Jemma whispered what they were all thinking.

Moments later, their car was surrounded.

* * *

"Fury." Phil walked casually towards his old friend, seemingly completely at ease despite the multiple guns pointed in his direction. "I have to admit this is an all time low in our friendship.

"I never wanted to do this, Coulson. You've forced me to resort to this."

"The guns are a little overkill, you know I'm not dangerous."

"I know you left us, potentially gave up a Hydra base, gathered a force of rogue agents, and disobeyed orders."

"Did you lose the base?"

"That's not the point, Phil."

"And did you find our present to you in one of the storage rooms?"

"It's still not the point, Phil. It doesn't matter that you took the Hydra base, or that you captured Garrett. This is about trust. You broke it."

"Not to sound like a kindergartener, but you broke mine first. You knew my stance on Skye and you ordered against it anyways. What did you think I would do?"

"Give us the girl. She will be safe."

"You made the call not to stage a rescue mission for her. If we had come any later, she would be dead. You don't get any say in what happens to her." For the first time, Phil's posture shifted, his jaw clenching and eyes flashing with anger. "You try to take her out of the plane and I assure you will have to kill every single one of us before you get to her."  
"You never did back down on your convictions." Nick seemed to almost smile.

"And you knew that when you brought me on board."

"Get the hell off!"

Coulson turned to find Hunter and Bobbi pushing agents off and jogging towards him. Nobody was shooting, the agents seeming unsure of what to do. These were after all their friends and fellow agents. These were people who they had gone through missions with, who had saved their lives. Bobbi especially had a long history with SHEILD.

Taking advantage of that, they joined Coulson next to the bus.

"Coulson, they have FitzSimmons," Bobbi informed Coulson. "They took them out at gunpoint, they think they're Hydra."

Almost as soon as she said it, two soldiers dragged the scientists forward, guns at their heads.

Coulson's gaze grew angrier as he saw the two young adults looking at him with wide-eyed frightened looks.

Bobbi, Hunter, and his other agents were not really in danger of being killed. But if the agents thought FitzSimmons were Hydra, they could lose their lives.

"Let them go, they're not Hydra. Without them, you would not have the Hydra base or Garrett." Coulson took a step forward towards Simmons. She was trembling slightly but had a determined look on her face. The soldier holding the gun to her head shifted uneasily.

"Your opinion no longer holds weight," Fury informed Coulson.

"Come on Fury, you know this is between you and me. Let them go. Timothy, please," This time Coulson turned to appeal directly to the soldier holding the gun to Simmons' head.

The soldier met Phil's gaze and slowly lowered his gun. Simmons ran forward and Bobbi quickly pulled the girl behind her protectively.

"The boy too."

The other soldier let Fitz go and he hurried to join his friends, Simmons taking his hand and holding it tightly.

"I know you still trust me as a person, and you respect my judgment," Phil said slowly as Fury stood silently.

"Trust has to be mutual," Fury didn't deny Coulson's claim. "So does respect."

"Alright then, I have a proposal. Why don't you come into the plane and we'll talk this out."

"And why do I need to go into the plane?" Fury raised his eyebrows.

"Because I want the rest of the team to be in on this conversation. And there's someone I need you to meet."

"Who?"

"Her name is Skye."

* * *

_**Thoughts? :)**_

**_Hello from Iceland! _**

**_Also let me know if you're interested in me doing one shots/taking prompts_**


	23. Family

_**So this is the last chapter. I know it's kinda sudden but I think it feels natural to stop here. **_

_**HOWEVER**_

_**IMPORTANT NEWS**_

_**I have decided I will write out prompts in this universe as one shots (maybe two shots if I feel like it)**_

_**So send me prompts!**_

_**I will post a chapter on here with the first oneshot and the name of the new story where all those will be. **_

**_As I finish, thank you all so much for your support and love. It's been amazingly fun to write this story. You all are the best!_**

* * *

Skye sat on May's lap, watching the door.

May's arms were wrapped tightly around her, but it made her feel safe.

Finally a head of brown hair walked through the door.  
"Jemma!" Skye squirmed out of May's arms and jumped onto Jemma.

"Hello darling," Jemma carried her quickly back towards May. And then Skye noticed the bruise on Jemma's arm.

"Jemma?" Skye looked anxiously up at Jemma's face.

"It's going to be okay, Skye," Jemma held her closer.

"Nice place you have here."

Skye started and turned in Jemma's arms to see a large man with an eye patch entering the living room of the plane. Coulson was next to him and behind them were Bobbi and Hunter, both with fierce expressions. Fitz was next to Jemma and May had stood up and was standing close to her as well. Tripp appeared in another doorway.

Skye wasn't sure why the atmosphere was so heavy, but she didn't like it. It was because of that man with the eye patch. But he hadn't done anything scary yet and Phil seemed okay with him being there, so he was probably okay.

Skye suddenly wanted her daddy.

"Daddy!" she squirmed in Jemma's arms, but the older girl didn't put her down like usual, instead carried her across the room to Phil.

Once she was with Phil, Skye felt better. She rested her head against his shoulder and examined the new man. His one brown eye stared at her, but Phil had her, so she wasn't scared.

Phil would never let anything bad happen to her. He had made her feel better, and he had rescued her when she had been back in the awful place. If she was with May and Phil, she was safe. The bad people had only gotten to her because Phil and May had to leave her.

But she was with them now and she was safe.

"Nick, this is Skye, Skye, this is Nick. We have been friends for a long time." Phil rubbed her back encouragingly.

"Are you a pirate?"

Skye immediately flushed after asking. The question had been on her mind ever since seeing the man. He _did _have an eye patch.

To her surprise, Nick laughed and it was a jolly sound.

"No, I'm not."

"Oh." Skye didn't know if she was disappointed or not. "In Tangled there's a bad person with an eye patch. But I don't think you're a bad person." Skye dismissed the thought.

"I hope I'm not a bad person," Nick said quietly, watching her.

"You aren't!" Skye immediately felt bad for making him think he was maybe a bad person and hurried to comfort him. "Bad people hurt people, and I don't think you do that."

Nick was silent and Skye was sad that she made him think he was bad. She reached out and stroked his arm. "You're not bad," she assured him. "Right, Daddy?" she turned to Phil for support.

"She's right, Nick," Coulson kissed Skye's cheek.

Nick finally broke his stare away from Skye at Phil's voice.

"Coulson, could we have a word?" Phil nodded and Skye found herself being put back in May's arms.

"Are you leaving?" she asked Fury.

"Not yet, Skye."

"Maybe before you leave, I can show you my toys," Skye offered, hoping it would make him happier. He seemed so serious.

"I would like that, Miss Skye," Nick nodded, finally smiling.

Skye decided he did have a nice face when he smiled.

* * *

"You wanted me to do this all along." Phil shut the door and turned on Fury.

"What makes you think that?" Fury sat down on a chair, examining a couple trinkets Coulson had sitting on a shelf.

"You walked onto my plane without any guards."

"This isn't your plane, you stole it from me, remember?"

"You left it unguarded after giving me an order you knew I wouldn't follow."

"Protocol requires my to make certain decisions, Phil. I cannot always explain my reasons for why I do the things I do."

"Protocol didn't allow for it, so you sent me to go rogue," Coulson frowned. "Or are you only okay with what happened because everything turned out in the end? And now that it did you're just forgiving us?"

Nick didn't answer that question. Instead he stood up.

"I can see why you and May have fallen in love with Skye. I hope you won't mind if I visit her again."

"Answer my question, did you want me to leave SHEILD to rescue Skye, or not?"

"By the way, Skye's files will be redacted. And you can keep the plane I guess."

* * *

Bobbi watched as Skye played with Hunter, glancing at the door where Fury and Coulson had gone. She wasn't exactly sure what relationship the two men had but she was staying alert just in case any fight broke out. She could tell by May and Hunter's tense posture that they were also remaining alert.  
Skye seemed unaware of the intense protectiveness surrounding her, happily playing It was obvious that when she was with either May or Phil, the little girl felt safe. The plane had become a safe zone in that sense.

"Ya ya oh no!" Skye's Elsa doll slid down the side of the couch. "Quick! Elsa's stuck!"

"Kristoff to the rescue!" Hunter ran his doll over towards her but at the last minute, Elsa jumped up and accidentally whacked Hunter in the face with a plastic hand.

"I don't need a boy to rescue me!"

"Ow!" Hunter held his nose dramatically which made Skye laugh.

"Girls don't need boys to rescue them." She informed Hunter after she was done giggling.  
"Who told you that?" Hunter asked, rubbing his nose.  
"Bobbi." Skye was suddenly holding onto the blonde's leg. "She said she can help May teach me how to fight."

"Why do I feel like I'm going to be the demonstration punching bag?" Hunter mumbled under his breath.  
Bobbi just smiled.

Suddenly the door opened and Fury stepped out with Coulson close behind. He took a step towards Skye and Bobbi instinctively put herself between the man and the girl.

"Relax Morse, I am just saying goodbye."  
Bobbi hesitantly stepped aside, but took one of Skye's hands, almost afraid the man would just yank the child away from them.

"I'm sorry I won't have enough time to play with you today. But maybe I can come visit another time?"

Skye nodded.

"Okay."

Fury gave her another smile and straightened, walking towards the door.

"Bye!" Skye waved, clinging to Bobbi's hand.

They all stood silently for a moment. All eyes landed on Coulson, nobody quite sure of what had taken place.

"Well team," Coulson turned to them all, picking up Skye. "Are you ready to get back up into the air? I'm expecting we'll be given some tasks to do soon from the Bus, but for now we're clear for take off." The older man didn't make any sign that he would explain what had happened, only meeting May's gaze and nodding.

There was a stunned silence.

At this point, there was only relief. They knew Coulson would explain later if it was important.

"He's letting us go?!" Jemma's brown eyes widened.

"We are all good to leave," Coulson smiled. "You and Fitz are welcome to stay aboard, otherwise we would be happy to drop you off wherever you would like."

Jemma and Fitz exchanged a long look.

"I think we'd like to stay, if that's alright with you all," Leo spoke up while Jemma nodded furiously.

"We'd love that."

Skye looked back and forth between the adults.

"You all are staying?" she asked hopefully, brown eyes large.

Everyone looked around at each other and nodded.

"Yay!" Skye cheered, bouncing up and down in Phil's arms. "We'll be a real family!"

They would be a family, Phil mused. Most of them hadn't had a family in a very long time. But now they would. He glanced at the faces surrounding him, thinking of all the different situations and struggles they had gone through. Finally his gaze landed on Skye. She had a lot of healing ahead of her.

But maybe they could be what she needed, what they all needed; a family.

A large misfit weird family.

But a family all the same.

_"Families are __the compass that guide us__. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter." - Brad Henry_

* * *

_**Thanks for all your support and reviews and love. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this for you all!**_

_**I will take oneshot prompts and begin another doc of those! **_

_**I hope to see you at the oneshots story! I'll post a chapter here when that's up! Send me some prompts so I can get started! :)**_


	24. Announcement and Sneak Peak

Hello readers!

So I've begun the story of one shots for this universe and I'm super excited!

It's called Where The Compass Points

First prompt, from Guest: May and Coulson realize that Skye should probably start school and ask Fitzsimmons to home school her because they're a little busy. Problem is Fitzsimmons are too enthusiastic and try teaching her super advanced stuff and Skye's confused because she can't even add yet. Bobbi comes in, starts Skye off on a lesson in one of the grade appropriate school books, and its decided that Bobbi should take over her schooling for now.

You all can find the story on my profile!

Hope to see you there :)

Thanks again for everything!

* * *

Sneak Peak:

"Yes!" Jemma squealed and Fitz was practically jumping up and down. "I'll just write out some theorums and… oh flash cards…"

Phil and May watched as the two scientists swept out of the room.

"Are we going to regret this?" Coulson looked at May.

"Probably," May said dryly.


End file.
